WANDERINGS  IN  THE  ORIENT 


difornia 

ional 

lity 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


ROLF  HOFFMANN 


"M1VERSITY  of  CALIFORM* 

AT 

LOS  ANGELES 
LJBRARY 


WANDERINGS  IN  THE  ORIENT 


BY 


ALBERT  M.  REESE 


WITH    SIXTY-SIX   ILLUSTRATIONS   FROM   PHOTOGRAPHS 


CHICAGO  LONDON 

THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

1919 


149300 


COPYRIGHT  BY 

THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
1919 


PRINTED    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    OF    AMERICA 


ms 


CONTENTS. 


Foreword 5 

I.  Life  in  a  Philippine  Village  7 

2           II.  A  Visit  to  Tay  Tay   18 

III.  The  Leper  Colony  of  Culion  24 

IV.  From  Zamboanga  to  Singapore  29 

V.  Singapore,  the  Melting  Pot  of  the  East  42 

£«        VI.  How  Rubber  Is  Made  53 

^      VII.  Two  Chinese  Cities  58 

VIII.  Meanderings  in  Modern  Manila  69 

IX.  A  Pacific  Paradise,  Honolulu  77 


FORE\YORD. 

TO  most  Americans,  "going  abroad"  means  visiting  Europe. 
Since  European  travel  will  doubtless  be  unsatisfactory  for  some 
years  to  come,  the  globetrotter  may  well  turn  his  attention  to  the 
Far  Eeast  which,  while  not  so  accessible,  is  after  all  easily  reached 
if  the  cost  be  not  prohibitive ;  and  the  ubiquitous  Cook  is  nearly 
always  on  hand  to  help  the  traveler  out  of  difficulties. 

The  trip  across  the  Pacific  is  of  course  a  long  one,  but  the 
journey  is  interrupted,  before  the  end  of  the  first  week,  by  a  stop 
at  that  tropical  paradise,  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 

If  one  should  need  a  complete  rest,  this  seven  thousand  mile 
voyage  is  just  the  thing.  If  he  desire  he  may  read  or  study  to 
good  advantage.  If  inclined  to  sea-sickness  there  is  plenty  of 
time  to  recover  and  still  enjoy  the  greater  part  of  the  journey. 
While  the  distances  between  stopping  places  are  often  great  one 
feels  that  he  can  "do"  a  place  in  much  less  time  than  it  would  take 
in  Europe,  where  objects  of  historic  and  other  interest  are  so 
crowded  together.  If  interested  in  the  work  of  foreign  missions 
abundant  opportunity  offers  for  their  study  at  first  hand. 

It  was  chiefly  during  these  journeys  between  stopping  places 
that  the  following  sketches  were  written,  as  a  sort  of  diary  or  log. 
illustrated  by  photographs  taken  by  the  writer. 

On  a  beautiful  morning  in  May  the  U.  S.  Army  Transport 
"Sherman."  after  a  voyage  of  twenty-eight  days  from  San  Fran- 
cisco, tied  up  at  the  dock  in  Manila.  The  regular  lines  make  the 
trip  in  much  less  time  than  the  leisurely  transports,  but  the  writer, 
as  a  representative  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  was  furnished 
passage  on  the  government  vessel.  \Yith  Manila  as  headquarters, 
collecting  trips  were  made  to  various  regions  roundabout.  Some 
of  these  places  are  described  in  the  following  chapters. 

Finally,  upon  one  of  the  inter-island  transports,  a  trip  to  the 
southermost  islands  of  the  Philippine  group  was  made,  ending  at 


6  WANDERINGS  IN   THE  ORIENT. 

Zamboanga,  where  the  North  German  Lloyd  steamer  was  taken  for 
Singapore,  via  Borneo.  From  Singapore  a  four  days'  trip,  without 
stop,  brought  us  to  Hongkong ;  whence,  after  seeing  that  place  and 
the  nearby  city  of  Canton,  a  two  days'  trip  brought  us  again  to 
Manila.  It  is  the  various  places  visited  in  this  more  or  less  out-of- 
the-way  circuit  that  are  described  in  the  remaining  chapters. 

A,  M.  R. 

MORGANTOWN,  W.  VA. 


I.   LIFE  IN  A  PHILIPPINE  VILLAGE. 

THE  little  village  or  barrio  of  Mariveles  is  situated  just  inside 
the  narrow  cape  that  forms  the  northern  border  of  the  entrance 
to  Manila  Bay.  The  city  of  Manila  lies  out  of  sight,  thirty  miles  to 
the  southeast,  but  the  island  of  Corregidor  lies  only  seven  miles  to 
the  south,  and  the  great  searchlights  at  night  are  quite  dazzling 
when  turned  directly  upon  the  village.  A  large  amount  of  money 
has  recently  been  spent  in  fortifying  Corregidor  until  it  is  now 
considered  practically  impregnable. 

The  village  extends  for  about  half  a  mile  close  along  the  beach 
and  is  flanked,  on  the  west,  by  the  buildings  of  a  United  States 
quarantine  station. 

Arriving  by  a  very  dilapidated  launch  from  Manila  I  waited  at 
the  government  dock  while  the  native  boy  I  had  brought  with  me 
went  to  the  village  to  find,  if  possible,  a  vacant  house.  He  soon 
returned,  with  another  boy  to  help  carry  our  baggage,  (there  was 
not  a  cart  or  wagon  of  any  sort  in  the  place)  and  with  the  informa- 
tion that  he  had  engaged  a  house  for  our  use.  A  whole  house  for 
two  people  sounded  rather  formidable  but  as  this  house  contained 
only  two  rooms  its  rental  was  not  as  extravagant  as  might  have 
been  imagined.  It  was  located  on  the  main  thoroughfare  which  had 
the  very  American  name  of  Washington  Street.  Like  the  typical 
native  house,  our  Washington  Street  mansion  was  built  chiefly  of 
bamboo  and  nip  a,  palm,  with  a  few  heavier  timbers  in  the  frame- 
work. Upon  the  main  timbers  of  the  frame  was  built  a  sort  of 
lattice  of  split  bamboo,  upon  which  in  turn  was  sewed,  shinglewise, 
close  layers  of  nipa  palm  that  are  quite  impervious  to  rain,  are 
fairly  durable,  and  are  very  inflammable.  The  people's  floor  was 
elevated  four  or  five  feet  above  the  ground,  thereby  securing  not  only 
air  and  dryness  for  the  people  above,  but  also  providing  a  very 
convenient  chicken-coop  and  pig-pen  beneath.  The  floor  was  made 
of  split  bamboo  which  made  sweeping  easy — merely  a  matter  of 
pushing  the  dirt  through  the  cracks  between  the  strips  of  bamboo. 


8 


WANDERINGS  IN   THE  ORIKNT. 


Although  the  smell  of  even  a  clean  pig  under  the  dining-room 
table  is  rather  objectionable  at  first,  as  is  the  crowing  of  two  or 
three  roosters  early  in  the  morning,  it  is  surprising  how  soon  one 
becomes  accustomed  to  these  little  annoyances,  and  it  simplifies 
domestic  science  considerably  to  be  able  to  throw,  from  one's  scat 
at  table,  banana  skins  and  other  scraps  through  a  convenient  hols 
in  the  floor  and  have  them  immediately  disposed  of  by  the  pig  and 
chickens  beneath. 

The  dining  room,  as  in  many  American  houses,  also  served  as 
a  kitchen.  The  stove  was  a  large  box,  elevated  two  or  three  feet 


MARIVELES    VILLAGE    AND    MOUNTAIN,    FROM    MANILA    BAY. 

from  the  floor,  lined  with  baked  clay  upon  which  the  fire  is  made. 
Large  iron  spikes,  arranged  in  groups  of  three,  may  be  imbedded  in 
the  clay  to  hold  one  or  more  pots  of  different  sizes.  There  was  no 
chimney,  but  a  convenient  window  carried  out  the  smoke  quite 
effectively.  The  fire-wood  was  stored  under  the  house  in  the  pig- 
pen and  consisted  chiefly  of  short  sticks  of  such  diameter  as  could 
be  easily  cut  with  the  large  knife  or  bolo  that  the  natives  wear 
suspended  from  a  belt  at  the  waist.  The  sticks,  when  the  cooking 
is  done,  are  simply  withdrawn  from  beneath  the  pot  and  lie  ready 


I. IKK    IX    A    PHIUl'I'IXK  VILLAGE. 


OUR  RESIDENCE  ON  "WASHINGTON   STREET." 


10 


WANDERINGS  IN   THE  ORIENT. 


to  be  pushed  in  again  when  the  fire  is  lit  for  the  next  meal.  A  very 
few  sticks  will  thus  serve  for  cooking  a  large  number  of  the  simple 
native  meals.  Opening  from  the  kitchen  was  the  front  door,  leading 
to  the  ground  by  a  flight  of  stairs  or  a  ladder.  Thanks  to  the  United 
States  Mariveles  is  supplied  with  abundant  water,  piped  from  some 
miles  up  in  the  mountains,  and  some  of  the  better  houses  of  the 
barrio  have  a  private  faucet  on  the  back  porch,  which  is  luxury 
indeed.  The  main  room  of  the  house  was  used  as  a  living  room 
and  bedroom.  In  such  houses  there  are  usually  large  windows, 


NATIVE  GIRL  CARRYING  BASKET  OF  CLOTHES. 


without  sash  of  course,  which  are  shaded  by  day  and  closed  by 
night  and  in  severe  storms  by  a  hinged  awning  of  nipa,  seen  in  the 
photographs.  In  spite  of  the  warmth  nearly  all  natives  close  the 
window  shades  tight  when  they  sleep,  so  that,  in  spite  of  the  numer- 
ous cracks,  the  ventilation  must  be  very  bad ;  this  may  partly  account 
for  the  prevalence  of  tuberculosis  on  the  islands. 

Around  the  better  houses  in  such  a  barrio  is  usually  seen  a 
high  fence  generally  made  of  closely  set  vertical  saplings,  driven  into 
the  ground  and  bound  together  with  rattan  at  the  top ;  this  fence 


1. 1 KK   IN   A   PHILIPPINE  VILLAGE. 


11 


serves  to  keep  the  chickens  in,  and,  at  night,  to  keep  prowling 
animals  out. 

Many  of  the  houses  have  a  tiny  store  at  the  ground  level  in 
which  a  small  stock  of  canned  goods,  native  fruits,  dried  fish, 
native  shoes  etc.  may  be  seen.  One  of  the  main  department  stores 
of  Mariveles  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  photograph,  with  the 
very  American  sign  at  the  side  of  the  entrance. 

Like  many  native  villages  Mariveles  has  a  large  stone  church, 
with  red  tile  roof,  bell  tower,  etc. ;  it  is  now  in  such  bad  repair  as 


THE  CHIEF  STORE  OF  MARIVELES. 

to  be  unsafe,  so  that  a  crude  shed  with  thatched  sides  and  corru- 
gated iron  roof  has  been  built  to  take  its  place.  No  priest  now 
lives  in  this  barrio  and  the  shed-like  church  did  not  have  the  ap- 
pearance of  being  much  used. 

The  village  school,  on  the  other  hand,  gave  every  indication 
of  activity.  Although  not  housed  ;n  a  very  handsome  building,  a 
glance  through  the  windows  and  door  showed  many  students  of 
various  ages  all  apparently  busy  and  orderly  under  the  supervision 
of  several  neat  and  bright  looking  native  women. 

On  the  same  street  with  the  school  a  link  with  the  outside  world 


12 


\V.\Ni)KKIN(;S    IX    Till-.   OKIKXT. 


was  seen  in  the  sign  "Telegraph  and  Post  Office."  This  office  was 
in  charge  of  a  native  who,  unlike  most  of  the  residents  of  the  barrio, 
spoke  English.  In  these  villages  it  is  usually  easy  to  find  natives 
who  speak  Spanish,  but  it  is  frequently  difficult  to  find  one  who 
understands  English. 

'The  men  of  the  village  were  mostly  engaged,  though  not  very 
strenuously,  in  the  rice  paddies  or  in  fishing.  The  women  looked 
after  the  housekeeping,  washing,  tending  the  stores,  etc.,  and  their 
position  of  respect  and  authority  in  the  homes  and  in  society  was 


THE  OLD  CHURCH. 


in  marked  contrast  to  that  of  other  oriental  and  even  of  some  Euro- 
pean women. 

A  tiny  store  across  the  street  from  where  we  lived  was  tended 
during  most  of  the  day  and  in  the  evenings  by  an  attractive  young 
native  woman  who  seemed  to  be  quite  a  belle.  Every  evening,  at 
about  dark,  a  dapper  young  native,  in  an  American  suit  of  white, 
always  appeared  and  seated  himself  upon  the  bench  in  front  of  the 
store,  where  he  could  see  and  talk  to  his  brunette  lady  love  without 
interfering  with  her  commercial  duties,  which  were  not  heavy.  Often 
several  other  suitors  appeared  and.  while  it  was  not  possible  to 


l.ll-'K    IN    A    I'lllI.Il'IMNH   YIU.ACK. 


13 


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14 


WANDERINGS  IN  THE  ORIENT. 


understand  what  was  said,  since  the  conversation  was  all  in  Tagalog, 
from  the  frequent  laughter  it  was  evident  that  the  girl  was  as  able 
to  entertain  several  admirers  at  once  as  are  some  of  her  blond 
sisters  across  the  sea.  Her  voice  was  softer  and  her  laugh  more  at- 
tractive than  that  of  many  an  American  belle  of  high  social  standing. 
In  fact  the  women  of  this  island  village  were,  as  a  class,  of  remark- 
able dignity  and  modesty,  so  that  there  was  probably  less  to  shock 
one's  modesty  here  than  at  many  a  fashionable  American  watering 
place.  Of  course  ignorance  of  their  language  made  it  impossible 


THE  TELEGRAPH  AND  POST  OFFICE. 

to  understand  all  that  was  going  on,  but  to  judge  by  their  actions 
and  the  tones  of  their  voices  it  would  seem  that  their  family  life 
is  as  peaceful  and  happy  as  that  of  the  average  American  family. 
It  is  truly  the  "simple  life"  that  they  lead,  and  to  us  it  seems  a 
very  narrow  one ;  yet  it  has  its  advantages  over  the  "strenuous  life" 
that  most  of  us  are  compelled  to  live.  There  was  little  or  no 
drunkenness  or  quarreling  among  the  men,  whose  chief  vice  seemed 
to  be  gambling. 

This  gambling  instinct  is  gratified  mainly  by  means   of  the 
cockpit.     One  of  the  most   familiar  sights   of  the  islands   is  the 


LIFE  IN   A  PHILIPPINE  VILLACM. 


15 


native  man  with  a  game  cock  or  just  a  plain  rooster  under  his  arm. 
They  pet  and  fondle  these  birds  as  we  do  cats  or  lap-dogs,  and  on 
Sundays  (alas!)  they  gather  at  the  cockpits  to  match  their  favorites 
against  each  other.  Many  barrios  have  large  covered  pits  seating 
hundreds  of  people.  The  pit  of  Mariveles,  which  happened  to  be 
in  the  yard  next  to  ours,  was  simply  a  square  of  about  twenty  feet 
enclosed  by  a  low  bamboo  fence,  in  the  shade  of  a  huge  acacia  tree. 
Around  this  square  were  gathered  about  one  hundred  men  (prob- 
ably all  of  the  men  of  the  barrio)  and  two  or  three  women,  and  we 
shall  hope  that  the  few  women  who  were  there  to  witness  so  un- 


NATIVE  "BANCA"  NEAR   MARIVELES. 


pleasant  a  spectacle  were  looking  after  their  husbands  to  see  that 
they  did  not  bet  too  heavily. 

Inside  the  square  were  two  or  three  officials,  and  two  men 
holding  the  two  contesting  birds.  A  man  at  a  table  outside  held  the 
stakes  and  presumably  kept  track  of  the  bettors,  odds,  etc.  Instead 
of  the  weapons  provided  by  nature  each  bird  had  securely  fastened 
to  his  left  leg,  in  place  of  the  spur  that  had  been  cut  off,  a  villain- 
ously sharp  steel  spur,  slightly  curved  and  about  three  inches  long. 
A  well  directed  thrust  from  this  steel  weapon  may  kill  the  victim 


16 


\Y.\X;>KRIX<;S  i\  THI-:  OKIKXT. 


almost   instantly,  and  one  victim  was  already  hanging  head-down 
to  a  near-by  tree  when  1  entered. 

While  the  bets  were  being  arranged  each  bird  was  held,  in 
turn,  to  let  the  other  peck  him  ferociously,  probably  with  the  idea 
of  making  them  mad  enough  to  fight.  When  the  bets  were  all  ar- 
ranged the  birds  were  placed  on  the  ground  facing  each  other,  and 
with  lowered  heads  and  neck  feathers  erected  they  dashed  together 
like  tigers,  jumping  high  over  each  other  and  endeavoring  to  stab 
one  another  with  their  artificial  weapons.  In  the  one  fight  wit- 
nessed (and  one  was  enough  to  learn  the  ways  of  the  cockpit)  both 


A   SCHOOLHOUSE  IN   ILOILO. 


birds  were  soon  bleeding  profusely  and  had  lost  their  desire  to 
fight,  so  that  th  ^  crowd  called  out  some  word  and  the  cocks  were 
picked  up  and  "sicked"  on  each  other  again ;  this  was  repeated 
until  one  bird  had  enough  and  retreated  ignominiously  to  the  farth- 
est corner  of  the  pit,  amid  the  shouts  of  the  men  who  had  bet  on  the 
other  cock.  In  many  cases,  it  is  said,  the  vanquished  bird  is  killed 
outright  before  he  has  time  to  retreat. 

The  sport,  while  rather  exciting,  is  certainly  d  moralizing, 
especially  with  the  betting  that  always  accompanies  it. 

Such  is  the  life  of  these  simple  people.  Of  course  among  the 
less  civilized  and  the  savage  tribes  conditions  are  very  different. 


LIFE  IX  A  PHILIPPINE  VILLAGE.  17 

and  a  white  man  would  not  dare  enter  so  intimately  into  the  life 
of  a  barrio ;  in  fact  in  some  regions  it  is  very  unsafe  to  go  outside 
of  the  army  posts  without  a  proper  guard. 

As  to  the  character  of  the  civilized  Filipinos  opinion  seems  to 
differ  among  the  Americans  of  the  Islands.  That  they  are  not 
yet  capable  of  self-government  seems  to  be  almost  universally  be- 
lieved by  Americans  who  have  lived  among  them ;  and  that  they  are 
not  energetic  as  a  class  is  only  what  might  be  expected  in  such  a 
climate.  Some  Americans  have  a  rather  high  opinion  of  the  moral 
character  and  general  trustworthiness  of  the  average  native ;  others 
do  not  hold  such  a  high  opinion  of  him  and  consider  him  the  inferior 
of  the  American  negro,  mentally,  morally  and  physically.  As  stu- 
dents in  the  University  of  the  Philippines  it  is  said  they  compare 
favorably  with  students  in  American  universities. 

Doubtless  there  is  as  much  variation,  mental  and  moral,  among 
the  natives  of  the  Philippine  Islands  as  among  the  inhabitants  of 
an  Anglo-Saxon  country,  so  that  one's  opinions  are  apt  to  be  in- 
fluenced by  the  class  of  natives  with  which  he  chiefly  comes  in 
contact. 


II.  A  VISIT  TO  TAY  TAY. 

THE  cutter  Biisuanga  of  the  Philippine  Bureau  of  Navigation 
had  been  chartered  to  go  to  Tay  Tay  on  the  Island  of  Palawan, 
to  bring  back  to  Manila  the  party  of  naturalists  of  the  Bureau  of 
Science  who  had  been  studying  the  little-known  fauna  and  flora  of 
that  far-away  island,  the  most  westerly  of  the  Philippine  group. 


VILLAGE   OF   TAY   TAY   FROM   THE   HARBOR. 

After  leaving  the  dock  at  Manila  at  sundown  we  steamed  out 
of  the  bay,  past  the  searchlights  of  Corregidor  and  the  other  forts 
which  were  sweeping  entirely  across  the  entrance  to  the  bay  in  a 
way  that  would  immediately  expose  any  enemy  that  might  attempt 


A  VISIT  TO  TAV  TAV. 


19 


to  slip  by  in  the  dark,  and  by  nine  o'clock  we  were  headed  in  a  south- 
westerly direction  across  the  China  Sea. 

The  next  day  we  passed  through  winding  passages  along  the 
Calamaines  group  where  every  hour  brought  to  view  new  islands 
of  the  greatest  beauty  and  of  every  size  and  shape.  Upon  one  of 
these  islands  is  a  leper  colony  which  we  visited  and  found  most 
interesting. 

Early  on  the  second  morning  we  entered  the  harbor  of  the  small 
but  ancient  village  of  Tay  Tay  (pronounced  "tie  tie"  and  spelled 


TWO   PROMINENT   HOUSES  JN  TAY  TAY. 

in  various  ways)  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Palawan.  Not  a  white 
man  lives  in  this  inaccessible  hamlet  and  it  is  seldom  that  one  visits 
it,  as  there  is  no  regular  communication  of  any  sort  with  the  out- 
side world. 

The  village  consists  of  a  dozen  or  two  native  huts  along  the 
beach  in  a  very  pretty  grove  of  coconut  trees.  Back  of  the  village 
is  a  range  of  low  mountains  covered  with  tropical  jungle.  The 
main  point  of  interest  is  a  well  constructed  fort  of  stone,  built 
on  a  small  promontory  that  projects  out  into  the  bay.  The  walls 
of  the  fort  are  very  massive  and  are  surmounted  at  each  of  the 
four  corners  by  a  round  watch  tower.  On  its  land  side  the  fort 


20 


WANDERINGS  IN   THE  ORIENT. 


is  entered  through  a  narrow  gate  that  leads  by  a  stone  stairway  to 
the  top  of  the  promontory.  On  various  parts  of  the  walls  are 
carvings  and  inscriptions  showing  that  the  different  bastions  were 
built  at  different  times. 

Within  the  fort  and  overlooking  the  walls  is  an  old  stone 
church  whose  roof  has  long  since  fallen  in.  Within  the  fort  is  also 
a  large  cement-lined,  stone  cistern  to  hold  water  in  case  of  siege. 
The  Spanish  inscriptions  on  the  walls  show  that  the  fort  was  begun 
about  1720,  though  the  mission  there  was  established  about  1620. 


THE  SPANISH  FORT  AT  TAY  TAY. 

Lying  about  within  the  fort  are  a  few  large  iron  cannon  that  were 
doubtless  used  by  the  Spaniards  in  repulsing  the  attacks  of  the 
Moro  pirates.  It  was  for  a  refuge  from  these  pirates  that  this 
old  fort  was  built  nearly  two  hundred  years  ago  in  this  tiny,  reef- 
protected  harbor,  on  an  island  that  even  now  is  unknown  to  a  large 
majority  of  American  people  although  it  is  a  part  of  our  territory. 
On  the  shore,  just  back  of  the  fort,  is  another  stone  church 
whose  roof  has  also  fallen  in ;  and  back  of  this  church  is  a  small 
thatched  bell  tower  with  two  very  good  bells  of  harmonious  tones 
hanging  in  it.  How  long  these  bells  have  been  silent  it  is  difficult 


A  VISIT  TO  TAV  TAV. 


21 


to  say,  but  no  priest  now  remains  to  carry  on  the  work  begun  nearly 
three  hundred  years  ago  by  the  brave  padres  from  Spain,  and  not 
a  Spaniard  now  lives  in  that  almost  forgotten  village.  But  for  the 
moss-covered  and  still  massive  gray  walls  of  the  fort  and  the 
crumbling  ruins  of  the  two  churches  one  would  never  imagine  that 
this  tiny  village  of  brown  men  had  ever  been  inhabited  by  subjects 
of  the  kingdom  of  Spain. 


CHURCH  WITHIN  THE  FORT. 

In  passing  out  of  the  harbor  of  Tay  Tay  we  visited  a  small 
volcanic  island  of  curiously  weathered  and  water-worn  limestone. 
Except  for  a  narrow  beach  the  sides  of  this  island  are  almost  per- 
pendicular, and  the  cliffs  are  honeycombed  with  dozens  of  water- 
worn  caves.  Many  of  these  caves  are  of  great  beauty,  resembling 
the  interiors  of  stone  churches ;  some  extend  far  back  into  the  dark 
interior  of  the  island,  others  are  lighted  by  openings  at  the  top. 
Many  of  them  are  beautifully  colored,  and  in  an  accessible  region 


22  \\AXDKKIXGS   IX   THE  ORIEXT. 

\vould  doubtless  be  frequently  visited  by  tourists,  while  in  their  iso- 
lated location  it  is  possible  that  they  had  never  before  been  visited 
by  white  men,  unless  in  the  old  Spanish  days.  It  is  in  these  and  in 
similar  caves  of  this  region  that  the  natives  obtain  the  edible  birds' 
nests  so  highly  prized  by  some,  especially  the  Chinese.  The  natives 
are  said  to  have  claims  on  certain  caves,  and  any  one  found  stealing 
nests  from  another  man's  cave  is  supposedly  dealt  with  as  a  thief. 


BELL-TOWER  OF  THE  CHURCH  OUTSIDE  OF  THE  FORT. 

These  curious  nests  are  built  by  swifts  (s\vallows)  against  the 
walls  of  the  dark  caves  much  in  the  some  way  as  is  done  by  our 
common  chimney  s\vifts,  except  that  instead  of  cementing  a  number 
of  small  twigs  together  by  a  kind  of  sticky  secretion  or  saliva,  the 
entire  nest  is  made  of  the  sticky  substance  which  dries  into  a  sort 
of  gummy  mass.  This  substance  has  but  little  taste,  and  why  the 
wealthy  Chinese  should  be  willing  to  pay  such  enormous  prices  ($12 
to  $15  per  pound)  for  it  is  hard  to  understand. 


A  VISIT  TO  TAV  TAV. 


23 


It  is  said  that  the  first  nest  the  bird  makes  in  the  season  brings 
the  highest  price  because  it  is  of  pure  material ;  this  nest  having 
been  taken  the  bird  builds  another,  but,  having  a  diminished  supply 
of  the  secretion,  it  introduces  some  foreign  matter  to  help  out,  and 
this  foreign  matter,  of  course,  makes  the  nest  less  valuable  as  food. 
A  third  nest  may  succeed  the  second,  but  it  has  still  more  foreign 
matter  to  still  further  diminish  its  value.  That  the  collection  of  the 
nests  is  attended  with  considerable  danger  is  evident  from  the  vert- 
ical, jagged  walls  of  rock  that  must  be  scaled,  either  from  below 
or  above,  to  obtain  them. 


ISLAND    NEAR    TAV    TAY    WHERE    EDIBLE   BIRDS'    NESTS    ARE 

FOUND. 

To  those  of  us  who  lead  busy  lives  in  the  centers  of  what  we 
call  twentieth-century  civilization,  life  in  a  place  so  isolated  from 
the  rest  of  the  world  as  Tay  Tay  seems  impossible.  Yet  the  in- 
habitants of  this  barrio  are  quite  contented  and  fairly  comfortable. 
They  live  "the  simple  life"  indeed.  While  their  resources  are 
exceedingly  limited  their  needs  and  desires  are  correspondingly  few. 
They  never  suffer  from  cold  and  probably  not  often  from  heat  or 
hunger:  and  they  are  not  cursed  with  the  ambitions  that  make  so 
munv  of  us  dissatisfied  with  our  lives. 


III.   THE  LEPER  COLONY  OF  CUOON. 

IT  was  early  Sunday  morning  when  the  "Busuanga"  dropped  an- 
chor in  the  harbor  of  Culion  Island,  one  of  the  Calamaines  group 
of  the  Philippines,  and  two  or  three  of  us  were  fortunate  enough 
to  be  invited  to  land,  for  an  hour  or  so,  to  visit  the  leper  colony 
that  is  said  to  be  the  largest  in  the  world. 

We  were  met  at  the  tiny  dock  by  the  physician-in-charge,  Dr. 
Clements,  and  by  him  escorted  about  the  colony.  This  physician, 
who  has  spent  long  years  in  these  eastern  lands,  gives  the  immediate 
impression  of  a  man  of  quiet  force,  and  the  work  he  is  doing  in  this 
seldom-visited  island  is  as  fine  a  piece  of  missionary  work,  though 
carried  on  by  the  government,  as  can  probably  be  found  anywhere. 

Including  the  dock  a  few  acres  of  the  island  are  fenced  off,  and 
into  this  enclosure  the  lepers  are  forbidden  to  enter ;  otherwise  they 
have  the  run  of  the  island,  but  are  not  allowed  boats  for  fear  they 
would  be  used  as  a  means  of  escape. 

Within  the  non-leprous  enclosure  are  located  the  residences  for 
the  doctors  and  other  officials ;  the  living  quarters,  kitchens  etc.  (all 
of  concrete)  for  the  non-leprous  laborers ;  and  various  shops  and 
other  such  buildings. 

At  the  "dead  line"  fence  between  this  and  the  leprous  part  of 
the  island  a  Chinaman  has  a  small  store  where  the  lepers  can  buy 
various  articles  such  as  may  be  seen  in  a  small  country  store.  The 
articles  are  in  plain  sight,  but  the  leper  is  not  allowed  to  touch 
anything  until  he  has  decided  to  take  it;  he  then  drops  his  money 
into  a  sterilizing  solution  and  gets  his  purchase.  A  more  modern 
store  is  being  arranged  by  the  government  that  will  soon  displace 
the  Chino. 

Passing  this  minute  store  we  entered  the  gate  of  the  "for- 
bidden city,"  and,  though  there  is  no  danger  from  merely  breathing 
the  same  air  with  lepers,  it  gave  us  a  rather  strange  sensation  to  be 
surrounded  by  thirty-four  hundred  poor  wretches  who  in  Biblical 
times  would  have  been  compelled  to  cry  "Unclean !  unclean !"  We, 


THE  LEPER  COLONY  OF  CULION. 


25 


of  course,  did  not  touch  anything  within  the  colony,  though  the 
doctors  do  not  hesitate  to  touch  even  the  lepers  themselves. 

The  colony  proper  is  located  on  a  small  promontory  looking 
eastward  to  the  harbor  and  the  Sulu  Sea.  At  the  end  of  this  pro- 
montory is  an  old  Spanish  fort  of  stone  with  its  enclosed  church. 
Most  of  the  Christian  lepers  are  Roman  Catholics,  though  there 
is  a  small  Protestant  church  in  the  colony,  in  charge  of  a  leprous 
native  minister. 


DOCTORS'  RESIDENCES  AND  OTHER  BUILDINGS  OUTSIDE  OF 
THE  COLONY  FENCE. 


The  lepers  are  brought  from  the  various  islands  of  the  Philip- 
pines to  this  colony  so  fast  that  it  is  with  great  difficulty  that  they 
can  be  accommodated ;  but  all  are  made  comfortable,  in  fact  much 
more  comfortable,  in  most  cases,  than  they  would  ever  have  been 
at  home.  Except  for  homesickness,  which  cannot,  of  course,  be 
avoided,  they  are  quite  happy,  or  as  happy  as  any  hopelessly  sick 
people  can  be  away  from  home  and  friends. 

Fine  concrete  dormitories  are  supplied,  but  many  prefer  to 
build  their  own  native  houses  of  nipa  palm  and  bamboo.  A  certain 
amount  of  help  is  given  the  lepers  in  building  these  houses  on  con- 


26 


WANDERINGS   IN   THE  ORIENT. 


dition  that  they  first  obtain  a  permit  and  build  in  the  proper  place 
in  relation  to  the  streets  that  have  been  laid  out. 

Besides  the  dormitories  there  are  several  concrete  kitchen 
buildings  where  the  lepers  can  prepare  their  food  in  comfort. 

A  plentiful  supply  of  pure  water  is  distributed  by  pipes  to 
various  convenient  parts  of  the  colony,  and  several  concrete  bath 
and  wash  houses  are  conveniently  located.  A  concrete  sewage  sys- 
tem leads  all  sewage  to  the  sea. 


CONCRETE  DORMITORY   AND   NATIVE   SHACKS. 

In  this  tropical  climate  it  is,  of  course,  unnecessary  to  provide 
any  means  o-f  heating  the  buildings.  At  the  time  of  our  visit  a 
large  amusement  pavilion  was  nearly  completed  where  moving  pic- 
tures and  other  forms  of  entertainment  will  help  pass  the  time  for 
these  poor  wretches  who  have  nothing  to  look  forward  to  but  a 
ling;ring  death  from  a  loathsome  disease. 

A  large  number  of  the  patients  who  are  in  the  incipient  stages 
showed,  to  the  ordinary  observer,  no  effects  of  the  disease.  There 
were  others  who  at  first  glance  seemed  perfectly  normal,  but  on 
closer  scrutiny  revealed  the  absence  of  one  or  more  toes  or  fingers. 
Others  had  horribly  swollen  ears :  some  had  no  nose  left  and  were 


Till.   I.I.I'KK  COLONY  OF  CULION. 


27 


distressing  objects ;  but  it  was  not  until  we  visited  the  various  wards 
of  the  hospital  that  we  saw  leprosy  in  all  of  its  horror.  Here  were 
dozens  of  cases  so  far  advanced  that  they  were  no  longer  able 
to  walk ;  they  were  lying  on  their  cots  waiting  for  death  to  come 
to  their  release.  Some  were  so  emaciated  as  to  look  almost  like 
animated  skeletons.  Others,  except  for  and  sometimes  in  spite  of 
their  bandages,  looked  like  horrid,  partially  decomposed  cadavers. 
It  was  a  sight  to  make  one  shudder  and  devoutly  hope  that  a  cure 
for  this  awful  disease  may  soon  be  discovered.  These  extreme 


CONCRETE  KITCHEN  AND  LAVATORY  BUILDINGS  AND  NATIVE 

RESIDENCES. 

cases  are  cared  for  carefully  and  their  last  hours  are  made  as  com- 
fortable as  possible. 

As  we  came,  out  three  Catholic  sisters  entered  the  women's 
ward  to  do  what  they  could  for  the  patients  there. 

Shortly  before  leaving  the  colony  we  were  led  to  a  small  con- 
crete structure  (near  the  furnace  where  all  combustible  waste  is 
burned),  and  as  the  door  was  opened  we  saw  before  us  on  a  con- 
crete slab  four  bodies  so  wasted  and  shrivelled  that  they  seemed 
scarcely  human.  These  were  those  who  had  at  last  been  cured  in 


28  WANDERINGS  IN  THE  ORIENT. 

the  only  way  that  this  dread  disease  admits  of  cure.  About  forty 
per  month  are  released  by  death,  and  those  we  saw  were  the  last 
crop  of  the  here  merciful  not  "dread  reaper." 

At  the  back  of  the  colony  we  met  four  lepers  of  incipient  stages 
carrying  a  long  box  on  their  shoulders.  Just  as  they  came  abreast 
of  us  they  set  it  down,  to  rest  themselves,  and  we  saw  that  in  the 
box  was  another  "cured"  leper.  He  was  being  carried  to  the  ceme- 
tery not  only  "unhonored  and  unsung"  but  also  "unwept" :  not  a 
single  friend  nor  relative  followed  his  wasted  body  to  its  final 
resting  place.  After  this  pitiful  spectacle,  added  to  the  horrors  of 
the  hospital  wards,  we  were  not  sorry  to  turn  our  steps  back  toward 
the  boat.  As  we  passed  through  the  fence  at  the  "dead  line,"  going 
away  from  the  colony,  we  were  compelled  to  wade  through  a  shallow 
box  of  water  containing  a  small  percentage  of  carbolic  acid  which 
disinfected  the  soles  of  our  shoes,  the  only  things  about  us  that 
had  come  in  actual  contact  with  the  leper  colony.  In  this  way  all 
visitors  when  they  leave  the  colony  are  compelled,  not  to  "shake  its 
dust  from  their  feet"  but  to  wash  its  germs  from  their  soles. 

As  an  antidote  for  dissatisfaction  with  one's  lot  in  life,  or  as 
an  object  lesson  for  the  pessimists  who  claim  there  is  no  unselfish- 
ness in  the  world,  or  as  an  illustration  of  the  value  of  the  medical 
missionary,  this  little  island,  lying  "somewhere  east  of  Suez"  be- 
tween the  Sulu  and  the  China  Seas,  is  not  easily  surpassed. 


IV.    FROM  ZAMBOAXGA  TO  SINGAPORE. 

WHEX  the  North  German  Lloyd  steamer  "Sandakan"  left  the 
dock  at  Zamboanga  she  had  in  the  first  cabin  only  three  pas- 
sengers, a  Russian  of  uncertain  occupation,  a  young  lieutenant  of 
the  Philippine  constabulary,  and  myself.  We  had,  therefore,  the 
pick  of  the  deck  staterooms,  which  is  worth  while  when  traveling 
within  ten  degrees  of  the  equator  in  mid-summer. 

Zamboanga  is  the  chief  city  of  the  island  of  Mindanao  and  is 
the  capital  of  the  turbulent  Moro  province,  which  includes  the  well- 
known  island  of  Sulu  with  its  once-famous  sultan. 

After  a  night's  run  we  tied  up  at  the  dock  of  Jolo,  the  chief 
town  of  the  island  of  Sulu.  Here  my  two  companions  left  the  ship, 
so  that  until  we  reached  the  next  port,  Sandakan,  I  was  the  only 
cabin  passenger,  and  when  the  ship's  officers  were  prevented  by 
their  duties  from  appearing  at  the  table  I  had  the  undivided  atten- 
tion of  the  chief  steward,  two  cooks,  and  three  waiters.  This  line 
of  vessels  being  primarily  for  freight  the  "Sandakan''  has  accommo- 
dations for  less  than  twenty  first-cabin  passengers,  and  it  probably 
seldom  has  anything  like  a  full  list  on  this  out-of-the-way  run  from 
"Zambo"  to  Singapore.  So  far  as  its  accommodations  go,  however, 
they  are  excellent,  and  a  pleasanter  trip  of  a  week  or  ten  days  would 
be  hard  to  find,  in  spite  of  the  tropical  heat. 

While  the  first  cabin  list  was  so  small,  the  third  class  accom- 
modations seemed  taxed  to  their  utmost,  and  the  conglomeration  of 
orientals  was  an  unending  source  of  amusement.  They  slept  all  over 
their  deck  and  appeared  happy  and  comfortable  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  they  seemed  never  to  remove  their  clothes  nor  to  bathe ;  it  is 
probable  that  to  most  of  them  ten  days  without  such  luxuries  was 
not  a  noticeable  deprivation. 

Leaving  Jolo,  a  picturesque  walled  city  with  a  reputation  for 
dangerous  Moros  (one  is  not  supposed  to  go  outside  the  walls  with- 
out an  armed  guard,  and  many  men  carry  a  "45"  at  their  hip  at  all 
times),  we  sailed  southwest  through  the  countless  islands  of  the 


30 


\\   \.\ni-lRIXGS   IX   THE  ORIENT. 


Sulu  Archipelago,  and  after  a  run  of  about  twenty  hours  passed 
the  high  red  cliff  at  the  entrance  to  the  harbor  of  Sandakan,  the 
capital  of  British  North  Borneo,  and  were  soon  alongside  the  dock. 
Sandakan  is  a  rather  pretty  little  town  of  two  or  three  thousand 
inhabitants,  including  about  fifty  white  people.  It  extends  along 
the  shore  for  about  a  mile  and  in  the  center  has  the  athletic  or 
recreation  field,  that  is  found  in  all  these  little  towns,  as  well  as 
the  post  office  and  other  government  buildings.  In  this  central  part 
of  the  town  are  also  the  Chinese  stores,  usually  dirty,  ill-smelling 


THE  WATER  FROXT  AT  SANDAKAN. 

and  unattractive ;  but  there  are  no  others.  In  all  this  region  the 
Chinese  seem  to  have  a  complete  monopoly  of  the  commercial  busi- 
ness. 

A  hundred  yards  or  more  from  the  shore  the  hills  rise  steeply 
irom  sea-level  to  a  few  hundred  feet,  and  over  these  hills  are  scat- 
tered the  attractive  bungalows  of  the  white  residents.  There  is  also 
here  a  handsome  stone  church,  overlooking  the  bay,  with  a  school 
for  native  boys  in  connection  with  it.  The  hills  farther  from  the 
town  are  heavily  wooded,  and  the  timber  is  being  sawed  at  mills 
along  the  shore  road.  On  the  streets  are  seen  men  of  several 


FROM    ZA.Ml'.UANGA    To   SINGAPORE. 


31 


nationalities,  Chinese,  Malays,  Moros,  East  Indians,  and  occasionally 
a  Caucasian  in  his  customary  white  suit  and  pith  helmet ;  but  of 
all  these  the  most  dignified  and  stately  is  the  Indian  policeman.  He 
is  tall  and  slender,  with  frequently  a  fine  black  beard ;  his  head  is 
covered  with  the  usual  white  turban,  set  off  with  a  touch  of  red. 
His  gray  spiral  puttees  generally  do  not  quite  reach  the  bottom  of  his 
khaki  trousers,  thus  leaving  his  knees  bare.  Hanging  from  his  belt 
is  his  club,  similar  to  those  carried  by  American  policemen,  and 
jangling  in  one  hand  is  usually  a  pair  of  steel  handcuffs.  In  passing 
white  men  he  often  raises  his  hand  in  a  formal  military  salute 


SANDAKAN  FROM  THE  HILL. 
The  "Sandakan"  at  the  Dock. 

that  would  be  worthy  of  a  major  general.  Altogether  he  is  a  most 
impressive  personage  and.  with  such  examples  constantly  before 
them,  it  would  seem  incredible  that  the  citizens  should  ever  cause 
a- disturbance.  An  interesting  contrast  was  seen  in  a  group  of  men, 
sitting  idly  in  the  shade  and  watching  eight  little  Chinese  women 
stagger  by  with  a  huge  tree  trunk  that  would  seem  too  heavy  for  an 
equal  number  of  strong  men  to  carry:  but  this  is  "East  of  Suez, 
where  the  best  is  like  the  worst,"  whatever  Kipling  meant  by  that. 
At  Sandakan  the  first  cabin  passenger  list  was  increased  100 
per  cent  by  the  advent  of  a  young  Danish  rubber  man — not  a  man 


32 


WAXDKKIXCS   IX   THE  OR1EXT. 


made  of  young  Danish  rubber,  but  a  young  Dane  from  Singapore 
who  had  been  inspecting  rubber  plantations,  of  which  there  are  many 
on  Borneo. 

Leaving  the  capital  city  at  sunset  we  arrived  at  Kudat,  our  next 
stopping  place,  early  the  next  morning.  With  a  very  similar  loca- 
tion this  is  a  much  smaller  town  than  the  preceding,  consisting  of 
four  or  five  hundred  people  including  half  a  dozen  Caucasians. 
In  spite  of  its  small  size  it  has  a  small  garrison  of  native  soldiers 
and  the  inevitable  recreation  ground.  Besides  this  there  is  here 


BUNGALOW  ON  THE  HILL,  SANDAKAN. 

a  race  track  at  which  a  meet  was  about  to  be  held.  Attracted  prob- 
ably by  the  races  was  the  ubiquitous  moving  picture  show,  set  up 
in  a  tent  near  the  race  track.  It  is  impossible  to  escape  the  "movies." 
I  attended  a  moving  picture  exhibition  given  in  the  cockpit  of  a 
small  Philippine  village  about  fifty  miles  out  from  Manila,  and  here 
was  another  in  a  still  smaller  village  on  the  Island  of  Borneo,  hun- 
dreds of  miles  from  an\":^licre.  In  the  same  way  it  is  impossible  to 
escape  the  voice  of  the  phonograph.  On  several  occasions  I  have 
heard  them  in  tiny  nipa  shacks  in  small  Philippine  villages,  and  in 


FROM    ZAMBOAXGA   TO   SINGAPORE. 


33 


a  Moro  shack  in  Kudat,  built  on  poles  above  the  water,  I  heard 
the  sound  of  what  seemed  a  very  good  phonograph  of  some  sort. 

In  the  northeast  corner  of  Borneo  is  its  highest  mountain,  Kini 
or  Kina  Balu,  the  Chinese  Widow,  supposedly  so  named  because 
of  the  fancied  resemblance  of  its  jagged  top  to  the  upturned  face 
of  a  woman.  It  is  really  a  very  impressive  peak  and,  being  seen 
from  the  sea,  it  looks  its  full  height  of  nearly  fourteen  thousand 
feet ;  being  exactly  under  the  sixth  parallel  it  is,  of  course,  too  close 
to  the  equator  to  be  snow-capped.  Its  position  near  the  coast  enabled 


CHINESE  WOMEN  CARRYING  LOG,  SANDAKAN. 

us  to  enjoy  it  as  we  approached  the  island  from  the  northeast  and 
as  we  passed  around  and  down  the  west  coast,  so  that  it  was  visible 
for  nearly  three  days.  Other  mountain  peaks  of  five  or  six  thou- 
sand feet  are  visible  along  the  west  coast  but  they  appear  insignifi- 
cant in  comparison  with  old  Kini  Balu. 

Leaving  Kudat  in  the  evening  we  arrived  at  Jesselton  the  fol- 
lowing morning.  This  is  a  town  of  about  the  same  size  and  char- 
acter of  location  as  Kudat,  but  as  the  northern  terminus  of  the  only 
railroad  on  the  island  it  seems  much  more  of  a  metropolis.  It  has 
a  clock-tower,  too,  the  pride  of  every  Jesseltonian  heart,  located 


34 


\VAXDERIXGS  IN  THE  ORIENT. 


CHINO  CARRIER,  SANDAKAN. 


RACE-COURSE  AT  KUDAT. 
Movie  tent  in  the  left  background. 


FROM    ZAMI'.OANC.A    TO   SINGAPORE. 


35 


in  plain  view  of  the  railroad  station  so  that  there  is  no  excuse  for  the 
trains  leaving  Jesselton  more  than  two  or  three  hours  late.  There 
is  here  again  the  recreation  field  and  market  house,  and,  of  course, 
the  usual  Chinese  stores  and  Indian  policemen ;  besides  this  it  is  the 
home  town  of  the  Governor  (an  Englishman,  of  course)  of  British 
Xorth  Borneo.  But  the  railroad  is  the  chief  feature  of  Jesselton. 
To  be  sure  it  is  only  a  narrow  gauge,  but  it  carries  people,  if  they 
are  not  in  too  big  a  hurry,  and  freight.  The  engines  are  of  English 
type  but  the  cars  are — original,  surely.  There  are  first  and  third 


MORO  SHACKS  AT  KUDAT. 
In  one  of  these  a  phonograph  was  heard. 


class  passenger  coaches,  no  second  class,  to  say  nothing  of  a  baggage 
"van."  The  third  class  cars  have  simply  a  rough  wooden  bench 
along  each  side  and  seat  about  twenty  people.  The  first  class  cars 
are  of  two  types:  the  first  is  like  the  third  class  with  the  addition 
of  cushions  to  the  seats  and  curtains  to  the  windows ;  the  second 
kind  is  a  sort  of  Pullman  car ;  it  is  of  the  same  size,  but  instead  of 
the  benches  it  has  about  half  a  dozen  wicker  chairs  that  may  be 
moved  about  at  will. 

Having  a  few  hours  to  spare  I  decided  to  take  a  ride  into  the 
country.     I  had  already  climbed  one  of  the  hills  where  I  could  get 


36 


WANDERINGS  IN   THE  ORIENT. 


a  view  inland  to  Kini  Balu,  over  miles  of  jungle  where  no  white 
man  has  ever  been.  But  I  wanted  to  see  a  little  of  this  country, 
from  the  car-window  at  least.  So  I  entered  the  station  and  inter- 
viewed the  station  master,  a  portly  official  of  great  dignity.  He  told 
me,  in  fair  English,  that  the  train  on  the  "main  line"  had  left  for 
that  day  but  that  I  could  take  a  "local"  out  into  the  country  for 
about  three  miles.  This -was  better  than  nothing,  so  I  climbed  (and 
climb  is  the  proper  word)  aboard  the  first  class  car  of  the  local  that 
was  soon  to  start.  I  was  the  only  first-class  passenger  and  I  felt 


HOSPITAL  ON  THE  HILL,  KUDAT. 

like  a  railroad  president  in  his  private  car.  Soon  after  starting 
the  conductor  entered.  He  was  a  tall  and,  of  course,  dignified 
East  Indian  in  turban  and  khaki  uniform.  He  had  the  punch  with- 
out which  no  conductor  would  be  complete,  and,  suspended  from  a 
strap  over  his  shoulder,  was  a  huge  canvas  bag,  like  a  mail  bag, 
the  purpose  of  which  puzzled  me.  The  fare,  he  told  me,  was 
fifteen  cents  to  the  end  of  the  line;  on  giving  him  a  twenty-cent 
piece  I  found  the  purpose  of  the  canvas  bag ;  it  was  his  money  bag, 
and  he  carefully  fished  from  its  depths  my  five  cents  change.  The 
Borneo  pennies  are  about  as  big  as  cart  wheels  so  this  bag  was  not 


FROM    ZAMI;<>A.\<;A    TO   SINGAPORE. 


37 


so  out  of  proportion  as  it  might  seem.  In  exchange  for  my  fare 
he  gave  me  a  ticket  marked  "fifteen  cents,"  which  he  gravely 
punched.  I  did  not  know  what  the  ticket  was  for  as  I  thought  there 
would  hardly  be  a  change  of  conductors  in  a  run  of  three  miles, 
but  I  kept  it  and  in  about  five  minutes  the  dignified  conductor 
returned  and  gravely  took  up  the  ticket  again ;  this  impressive  per- 
formance was  repeated  on  the  return  trip. 

After  leaving  the 'crowded  (?)    streets  of  the  city  our  speed 
rapidly  increased  until  we  were  traveling  at  a  rate  of  not  less  than 


CLUB  HOUSE  AT  JESSELTON. 

ten  miles  an  hour,  which  was  fast  enough  considering  there  were 
no  airbrakes  on  the  train  of  three  cars,  and  we  had  to  be  ready  to 
stop  at  any  moment  when  somebody  might  want  to  get  on  or  off. 
Doubtless  the  "flyers"  on  the  main  line  of  the  British  North  Borneo 
State  Railroad  run  at  even  greater  speeds  than  this.  The  dignity 
of  the  officials  of  this  miniature  railroad  was  most  interesting,  and 
was  almost  equal  to  that  of  a  negro  porter  on  the  Empire  State 
Express. 

Leaving  this  railroad  center  early  the  next  morning  we  arrived, 
before  dark,  at  our  last  stop  in  Borneo,  Labuan.     We  had  added 


149300 


38 


WANDERINGS  IN  THE  ORIENT. 


50  per  cent  to  our  cabin  passenger  list  at  Jesselton  by  taking  aboard 
a  young  English  engineer  from  South  Africa. 

The  Island  of  Labuan  upon  which  the  town  of  the  same  name 
is  situated  lies  just  off  the  northwest  coast  of  Borneo.  It  came 
under  the  protectorate  of  Great  Britain  in  1846  and,  though  small, 
has  a  more  up-to-date  appearance  than  any  of  the  other  towns 
visited.  The  stores  are  mainly  of  concrete  with  red  tile  or  red- 
painted  corrugated  iron  roofs,  which,  among  the  tall  coconut  palms, 
are  very  attractive  in  appearance.  There  is  one  main  street,  parallel 
to  the  beach  line,  that  is  extended  as  a  modern,  oiled  road  for  some 


PASSENGER  TRAIN  ON  THE  B.  N.  B.  S.  R.  R.  AT  JESSELTON. 


miles  into  the  country.  Along  this  road  are  the  very  attractive 
official  buildings,  each  with  its  sign  in  front ;  also  the  recreation 
field  and  the  residences  of  the  few  white  inhabitants.  All  of  the 
streets  are  clean  and  have  deep  cement  gutters  on  the  sides  that 
lead  to  the  sea  or  to  the  various  lagoons  that  extend  through  the 
town.  Water  pipes  also  extend  along  the  streets  with  openings  at 
convenient  intervals.  Extensive  coal  mines  are  located  near  the 
town,  but  for  some  reason  they  were  not  profitable  and  the  cars 
and  docks  for  handling  coal  are  now  nearly  all  idle.  On  one  of  the 


FROM    ZAMl'.OANCA    TO    SINGAPORE. 


39 


lagoons  is  a  rather  artistic  Chinese  temple  of  concrete,  well  built 
and  in  good  repair. 

On  the  main  street  is  a  school,  and,  seeing  a  crowd  of  natives 
at  the  door,  I  joined  the  throng  to  see  what  was  going  on  inside. 
It  proved  to  be  the  singing  hour,  and  about  fifty  little  Chinese  boys, 
from  six  to  ten  years  of  age,  all  in  neat  khaki  uniforms,  were  sing- 
ing at  the  tops  of  their  voices,  led  by  a  very  active  Chinese  man. 
The  little  fellows  seemed  to  enjoy  the  singing  thoroughly,  and,  after 
hearing  several  songs,  all  in  Chinese,  of  course,  to  strange  and  un- 
usual tunes,  I  was  surprised  to  recognize  one  of  the  tunes — it  was 


BORNEAN  BOAT  AT  JESSELTON. 


"John  Brown's  body  lies  amoulding  in  the  grave" — though  what  the 
\vords  were  I  was  unable  to  tell  since,  like  the  other  songs,  they  were 
in  Chinese. 

At  Labuan  the  last  of  our  cabin  passengers  came  aboard,  two 
Englishmen,  one  a  mining  engineer,  the  other  a  government  man. 
Since  no  more  stops  were  to  be  made  in  Borneo,  the  Sandakan 
headed  in  a  southwest  direction  straight  for  Singapore,  and  in 
exactly  three  days  we  entered  that  busy  harbor  and  dropped  anchor 
among  the  more  than  two  dozen  other  ocean  liners  from  all  parts 
of  the  world. 


40 


WANDERINGS   IX   THE  ORIENT. 


MAIN  STREET  AT  LABUAN. 


POST  OFFICE  AND  RECREATION  GROUND  AT  LABUAN. 


FROM    ZA.MROAXGA  TO  SINGAPORE. 


41 


Singapore  is  one  of  the  busiest  seaports  in  the  world  and  the 
hundreds  of  vessels  of  all  sizes  and  types  against  the  background 
of  handsome  white  and  cream-colored  buildings  make  a  very  inter- 
esting and  impressive  sight. 


CHINESE  TEMPLE  AT  LABUAN. 

Thus  ended  a  most  interesting  voyage  of  nine  days,  through  a 
region  seldom  visited  by  any  but  a  few  Englishmen  who  are  inter- 
ested in  some  way  in  the  development  of  that,  as  yet,  little  developed 
part  of  the  world.  Although  it  is  a  trip  that  is  easily  arranged  by 
visitors  to  the  Philippines  it  is  one  that  is  seldom  taken  by  the 
tourist. 


V.    SINGAPORE,  THE  MELTING  POT  OF  THE 

EAST. 

IX  Singapore,  it  is  said,  can  be  seen  more  races  of  men  than  at  any 
other  one  spot  in  the  world,  so  that  it  has  been  well  named  "The 
Melting  Pot  of  the  East."    It  is  also  sometimes  spoken  of  as  "The 
Gateway  of  the  East,"  since  all  vessels  bound  for  ports  in  the  Far 
East  call  there. 


HONGKONG  BANK  AND  PUBLIC  SQUARE. 

It  is  said,  perhaps  without  sufficient  historical  evidence,  that 
the  town  was  first  settled  by  Malays  in  1360  A.  D. ;  but  as  a  port 
of  any  importance  its  history  begins  in  1819  when  it  was  ceded  by 


SIXCAI'OKl-:,    THK    MKI.TINC,    I'OT   OF   THK    EAST. 


43 


A  CHINESE  RESIDENCE  STREET. 


A  SUBURBAN  RESIDENCE. 


44  WANDKRIN'GS   IX   THE  ORIENT. 

Jahore  to  Great  Britain  through  the  instrumentality  of  Sir  Stamford 
Raffles,  whose  name  is  perpetuated  in  connection  with  many  of  the 
local  institutions. 

In  the  early  days,  in  fact  until  the  introduction  of  steamships, 
there  was  much  annoyance  and  danger  from  pirates  at  sea  and 
robbers  on  land,  but  that  of  course  is  now  long  past  and  one  is  as 
safe  here  as  in  any  other  part  of  the  world. 

The  present-day  Singapore  is  a  thriving  town  of  more  than 
250,000  inhabitants,  and  is  one  of  the  busiest  harbors  in  the  world ; 
more  than  three  dozen  sea-going  steamships  may  sometimes  be  seen 
in  the  harbor  at  the  same  time,  and  the  number  of  rowboats  and 
other  small  craft  is  legion. 


VICTORIA  MEMORIAL  HALL  AND   SINGAPORE  CRICKET  CLUB. 

On  landing  one  is  fairly  overwhelmed  by  the  rickisha  men,  for 
the  jinrikisha,  the  two-wheeled  Japanese  cart,  is  the  method  of 
travel  in  Singapore,  though  one  may  hire  a  pony  wagon  (ghari), 
or  even  an  automobile  at  very  reasonable  rates.  As  to  the  electric 
cars,  or  "trams,"  the  less  said  the  better ;  they  would  disgrace  a  city 
of  one-tenth  the  size  of  Singapore. 

The  streets  are  excellent  and  are  nearly  all  level,  so  that  the 
rickishas,  usually  pulled  by  Chinese,  make  good  time.  Many  resi 
dents  own  their  own  rickisha  and  hire  the  man  by  the  month ; 
more  well-to-do  people,  and  there  are  many  wealthy  people  both 
native  and  foreign  in  Singapore,  have  their  own  teams  and  auto- 
mobiles. 


SINGAPORE,  THE   MELTING  POT  OF  THE  EAST. 


45 


While  there  are  regular  rickisha  stands  in  different  parts  of 
town,  especially  near  the  hotels  and  other  public  places,  there  are 
few  streets  so  unfrequented  that  one  cannot  "pick  up"  a  rickisha 
at  a  moment's  notice.  Umbrellas  are  scarcely  needed,  for  in  case 
of  a  shower  one  may  call  a  rickisha  to  the  curb  and  be  whisked  to 
his  destination  dryshod.  In  fact  there  is  very  little  walking  done 
in  Singapore,  especially  by  Europeans ;  it  is  so  easy  to  get  into  the 
ever-present  and  alluring  rickisha.  Moreover,  it  is  very  hot  in  the 
sun,  for  Singapore  is  only  a  little  more  than  one  degree  from  the 


THE  SCOTCH  KIRK. 


equator.  There  is  a  regular  scale  of  prices  for  public  vehicles,  but 
the  newcomer  is  always  "spotted"  and  is  charged  double  or  treble 
the  regular  fare  until  he  learns  better  than  to  heed  the  pathetic  or 
indignant  protests  of  the  rickisha  men. 

Like  other  cities  in  the  East  Singapore  is  a  mixture  of  beauty 
and  squalor.  In  the  region  of  the  banks,  steamship  offices,  and 
wholesale  houses  there  are  many  handsome  buildings :  but  in  the 
Chinese  districts  that  make  up  the  greater  part  of  the  business  sec- 
tion, for  the  Chinese  merchants  far  outnumber  all  others,  there  are 
narrow  crowded  streets,  small  houses,  and  large  and  variagated 


Y.  M.  C.  A.  BUILDING. 
Methodist  Church  in  left  background. 


ST.  JOSEPH'S  COLLEGE. 


SINGAPORE,  THE    MELTIXG   POT  OF  THE   EAST.  47 

smells.     There  is  also  a  notorious  and  wide-open  red-light  district 
that  is  a  disgrace  to  a  modern  and  supposedly  civilized  town. 

While  the  saloon  is  not  particularly  in  evidence  the  indulgence 
in  stcngalis  (Malay  for  half),  or  whiskey  and  sodas,  is  well-nigh 
universal  among  the  European  population,  not  always  excluding  the 
women  and  clergy.  Since  alcohol  is  said  to  be  particularly  danger- 
ous in  the  tropics  it  would  be  interesting  to  know  the  total  effect 
of  this  general  indulgence.  It  is  generally  conceded  that  after  a 
few  years  of  tropical  life  Europeans  must  go  home  to  recuperate; 
it  would  be  interesting  to  know  if  the  use  of  strong  alcoholics  bears 


PART  OF  A  CHINESE  FUNERAL  PROCESSION. 

any  relation  to  the  frequency  of  these  necessary  trips  to  temperate 
regions. 

Certainly  life  seems  easy  and  pleasant  in  Singapore,  especially 
among  government  officials.  About  eight  or  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning  a  stream  of  rickishas,  carriages  and  automobiles  carries 
the  men  down  town  from  their  pleasant  and  often  very  handsome 
homes  uptown  or  in  the  suburbs.  Many  of  the  finest  of  these 
homes  are  owned  by  wealthy  Chinese  merchants.  About  five  in 
the  afternoon  the  stream  sets  in  the  other  direction,  carrying  those 


48 


WANDERINGS  IN  THE  ORIENT. 


whose  day's  work  is  over  back  to  their  cool  villas  or  to  some  recrea- 
tion ground  where  tennis,  cricket,  golf,  or  football  may  be  enjoyed 
for  an  hour  or  two  before  dark.  Dinner  is  usually  between  seven 
and  eight  and  is  over  in  time  for  evening  entertainments  which 
begin  late.  Although  too  far  from  the  beaten  tracks  frequently  to 
enjoy  first-class  dramatic  talent,  there  are  the  ubiquitous  "movies," 
and  for  the  transient  visitor  the  Malay  and  Chinese  theaters  are  of 
great  interest. 

An  excellent  race  course  provides  entertainment  of  that  sort 


PART  OF  A  CHINESE  FUNERAL  PROCESSION. 

at  frequent  intervals.  For  the  more  serious-minded  the  extensive 
Raffles  Museum  and  Library  is  centrally  and  beautifully  located. 

The  beautiful  Anglican  Cathedral  is  the  largest  church  in  the 
city,  and  many  other  denominations  possess  smaller  but  attractive 
churches. 

The  central  building  of  all  is  the  beautiful  Victoria  Memorial 
Hall  with  its  tall  clock  tower  and  chimes.  In  front  of  this  white 
building  is  the  black  statue  of  an  elephant,  presented  to  the  city 
by  the  king  of  Siam  to  commemorate  the  first  visit  ever  paid  to  a 
foreign  city  by  a  Siamese  monarch.  In  the  neighborhood  of  the 


SINGAPORE,   THE   MELTING   POT  OF  THE   EAST. 


49 


Cathedral  and  Memorial  Hall  are  the  hotels,  which  are  good  in  most 
respects  but  whose  charges  to  transient  guests  are  usually  exorbi- 


A  HINDU  TEMPLE. 
Rickishas  passing. 

tant :  here  is  also  the  main  recreation  field  where  cricket,  tennis  and 
football  are  played  every  afternoon  by  both  natives  and  Europeans. 


50 


WANDERINGS   IN   THE  ORIENT. 


While  these  churches,  residences  and  parks  (including  the 
well-known  botanical  gardens)  are  interesting,  it  is  the  oriental 
element  that  has  the  greatest  charm  for  those  from  other  lands. 
A  rickisha  ride  through  the  teeming  streets  of  the  Chinese  or 
Malay  quarters,  especially  at  night,  is  most  interesting.  If  taken 
during  the  day  a  Chinese  funeral  procession  with  its  banners,  bands 
and  tom-toms  may  be  met ;  in  fact  the  death-rate  among  the  squalid 
Chinese  residents  is  so  high  that  funerals  are  of  very  frequent 
occurrence. 


•  • 


THE  MOSQUE  AT  JAHORE. 


At  the  docks  and  other  gathering  places  one  is  fascinated  by 
the  constantly  shifting  sea  of  strange  faces  and  costumes ;  some- 
times the  lack  of  costume  is  more  noticeable  than  the  costume,  as 
among  the  coolies  or  laborers  from  India  or  Arabia.  Chinese, 
Japanese,  various  races  of  Malays  and  East  Indians,  jostle  elbows 
with  Englishmen,  Americans  and  every  other  race  under  the  sun 
except  perhaps,  the  American  Indian.  It  is  surely  a  motley  throng 
and  the  tower  of  Babel  was  nowhere  compared  to  this  conglomera- 
tion of  tongues. 


:•:,  Tin:  MELTING  POT  OF  THE  EAST.  M 

The  oriental  is  a  rather  mild  individual  as  a  rule  and  wrangling 
and  fighting  is  probably  less  common  than  among  occidental  com- 
munities. 

Several  interesting  temples  are  to  be  seen  in  Singapore ;  their 
quaint  architecture  is  always  interesting  to  the  occidental  tourist, 
and  the  hideous  images  to  be  seen  within  will  repay  the  trouble  of 
removing  one's  shoes,  which  must  be  done  before  admittance  is 
granted. 

When  the  sights  of  the  city  have  been  exhausted  a  visit  to 
Jahore  on  the  mainland  (Singapore  is  on  a  small  island)  of  the 


CANAL  AND  MARKET  PLACE  AT  JAHORE. 

Malay  Peninsula  will  be  interesting.  Here  is  the  summer  palace 
of  H.  H.  the  Sultan  of  Jahore ;  also  a  large  and  handsome  mosque. 
Here  is  also  a  wide-open  gambling  establishment  where  hundreds  of 
Chinese  may  be  seen  playing  "fantan." 

On  the  return  from  Jahore,  if  interested  in  such  things,  a 
visit  to  a  rubber  estate  may  be  made,  and  the  whole  process  in  the 
manufacture  of  rubber  may  be  seen  in  a  few  hours ;  it  is  a  strange 
and  fascinating  process  and  is,  perhaps,  the  most  important  industry 
of  the  Federated  Malay  States. 


52  WANDERINGS  IN  THE  ORIENT. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  Singapore  which  has  been  a  British 
colony  for  nearly  a  century  with  Manila,  a  city  of  about  the  same 
size,  that  has  been  under  American  rule  for  less  than  two  decades. 
The  results  that  have  been  accomplished  in  the  latter  place  along 
the  lines  of  sanitation,  education,  and  other  civilizing  influences 
should  make  an  American  proud  of  his  native  land. 


VI.  HOW  RUBBER  IS  MADE. 

ONE  of  the 'principal  products  of  the  Malay  Peninsula  is  rubber. 
Like  most  people  who  have  never  happened  to  investigate  the 
matter  my  ideas  as  to  the  way  in  which  an  automobile  tire  is  ex- 
tracted from  a  tree  were  very  hazy ;  so,  with  another  American, 
who  had  charge  of  a  mission  school  in  Singapore,  I  boarded  the 
Jahore  express  on  the  F.  M.  S.  R.  R.  (F.  M.  S.  meaning  Federated 
Malay  States)  and  after  a  run  of  half  an  hour  arrived  at  the  Bukit 
Timar  rubber  estate  some  ten  miles  northwest  of  Singapore. 

The  Bukit  Timar  is  an  up-to-date  plantation  of  more  than  one 
hundred  thousand  trees,  and  here  we  saw  the  whole  process,  from 
tree  to  sheet  rubber,  as  shipped  to  all  parts  of  the  world  and  sold 
by  the  pound.  Rubber  trees  grow  to  a  considerable  size,  but  this 
being  a  young  plantation  most  of  the  trees  were  not  over  six  or 
eight  inches  in  diameter.  In  the  middle  of  the  estate  was  a  very 
attractive  bungalow  where  lived  the  manager  and  his  wife,  a  young 
English  couple,  and  the  former  very  courteously  showed  us  about 
his  place  and  explained  the  different  processes. 

"Tapping"  begins  at  daybreak,  and  all  the  juice  or  latex  is 
collected  before  noon.  Dozens  of  native  and  Chinese  men  and  boys 
are  employed  in  this  process,  some  of  the  latter  being  so  small  that 
they  can  scarcely  carry  the  two  buckets  of  latex  on  the  bamboo 
stick  over  the  shoulder. 

In  tapping,  a  very  thin  and  narrow  piece  of  bark  is  gouged  off, 
just  deep  enough  to  make  the  tree  bleed,  but  not  deep  enough  to 
kill  it ;  so  that  by  the  time  the  bark  on  one  side  of  the  tree  has  been 
cut  away  that  on  the  opposite  side  has  had  time  to  regenerate.  The 
process  is  thus  a  perpetual  one  and  the  tree  lasts  indefinitely. 

The  exact  method  of  tapping  varies,  but  usually  it  is  begun  as 
two  slanting  grooves  that  converge  to  form  a  V.  The  latex  oozes 
from  the  freshly  cut  bark,  runs  down  the  converging  grooves  to 
their  point  of  union,  and  is  caught  in  a  small  glass  cup  or  other 
vessel  suspended  under  a  tiny  spout  at  the  apex  of  the  V.  The 


54 


\V.\.\I)KKI.\t;S    IX   THE  ORIENT. 


method  of  tapping  shown  in  the  photograph  is  different  from  this 
somewhat,  though  the  principle  is  the  same.  The  latex  that  oozes 
from  the  grooves  is  a  pure  white,  sticky  fluid  resembling  milk ;  about 
a  tablespoonful  is  obtained  each  day  from  each  tree. 

By  the  time  each  man  has  tapped  or  gouged  all  of  the  trees 
assigned  to  him  (perhaps  two  or  three  hundred)  the  first-tapped 
trees  have  bled  all  they  will  for  that  day,  so  that  collecting  is  begun 
at  once.  In  each  cup  is  a  little  water  to  prevent  the  latex  from 
coagulating  and  sticking  to  the  bottom. 


HOME  OF  THE  MANAGER  OF  THE  BUKIT  TIMAR  RUBBER 
ESTATE  NEAR  SINGAPORE. 


The  first  V  is  cut  several  feet  from  the  ground,  and  the  amount 
that  is  gouged  from  each  side  of  the  V  each  day  is  so  very  thin 
that  it  will  be  months  before  the  apex  of  the  V  reaches  the  ground, 
by  which  time  the  regeneration  of  the  first  cuts  will  be  well  under 
way. 

After  the  flow  of  latex  has  ceased  for  the  day  a  narrow  strip 
hardens  along  each  groove,  like  gum  on  a  cherry  tree.  These  little 
strips  of  rubber,  with  bits  of  adherent  bark,  as  well  as  any  drops 
that  may  have  fallen  to  the  ground,  are  collected  in  bags  and  car- 


HOW  RUBBER  IS  MADE. 


55 


ried  to  the  factory  to  be  made  into  sheets  of  cheap  grades  of  com- 
mercial rubber. 


A  YOUNG  RUBBER  TREE  SHOWING  ONE  METHOD  OF  TAPPING. 

The  white  lines  are  the  latex  running  down  the  grooves  into  the  glass  cup  at 
the  bottom.  Above  the  two  slanting  lines  is  seen  the  scarred  tissue 
where  the  bark  has  beeen  gouged  away.  When  the  lower  end  of  the 
lower  line  reaches  the  ground  the  tree  will  be  tapped  on  the  opposite 
side.  The  amount  of  latex  in  the  cup  seems  greater  than  it  really  is 
because  of  the  water  upon  which  it  floats.  The  size  of  the  tree  may  be 
judged  from  the  kodak  case  at  its  foot. 

After  the  trees  have  been  tapped  the  latex  is  collected  in  care- 
fully cleaned  tin  buckets,  brought  to  the  factory  and  strained  into 
huge  earthenware  tubs.  It  is  then  put  into  enamelware  pans  about 
twelve  by  thirty-six  inches  in  size  and  three  inches  deep,  and  a 


56 


WANDERINGS  IN  THE  ORIENT. 


very  weak  acid  (usually  acetic)  is  stirred  into  it.  In  about  half 
an  hour  the  acid  coagulates  the  latex  (like  rennet  in  making  junket 
from  milk)  into  a  soft,  pure  white  mass,  about  two  inches  thick 
and  of  the  area  of  the  pan.  This  soft  mass  of  rubber  is  carefully 
floated  out  of  the  pan  onto  a  table,  where  it  is  rolled  on  both  sides 
for  a  few  minutes  with  a  wooden  rolling-pin  to  squeeze  out  the 
excess  of  water  and  acid.  It  is  then  carefully  lifted  into  a  large 
vessel  of  pure  water  to  harden  until  the  next  day. 


THREE  LATEX  GATHERERS. 

The  boy  in  the  middle  of  the  group  has  the  canvass  bag  over  his  shoulder  in 
which  he  carries  the  scraps  of  dried  rubber  from  the  grooves  on  the 
trees. 

The  next  day  it  is  run  several  times  through  smooth  steel 
rollers  under  dropping  water,  where  it  is  flattened  out  into  sheets 
of  about  an  inch  or  less  in  thickness  and  of  a  proportionately  greater 
area.  It  is  next  passed  through  roughened  steel  rollers  that  mark 
it  off  into  ridges  and  depressions  like  a  waffle. 

These  sheets,  now  tough  and  elastic,  are  hung  in  a  closed  cham- 
ber and  smoked  until  they  reach  a  proper  shade  of  brown,  when 
they  are  ready  for  shipment.  The  smoking  process,  which  is  to 
preserve  the  rubber,  often  takes  many  days,  though  at  the  time  of 


II  (AV  RUBBER  IS  MADE. 


57 


our  visit  the  manager  of  the  Bukit  Timar  estate  was  experimenting 
with  a  method  that  would  complete  the  smoking  in  a  few  hours. 

The  production  of  rubber  in  the  Malay  Peninsula  is  of  rather 
recent  date  and  it  has  increased  by  leaps  and  bounds.  In  the  various 
"booms"  that  have  taken  place  many  fortunes  have  been  made — as 
witnessed  by  the  palatial  residences  about  Singapore — but  many 
have  also  been  lost,  though  the  witnesses  to  these  are  not  so  evident. 


THE  TRAVELER   PALM,  AN   UNUSUAL  TYPE  OFTEN   SEEN   IN 
THE  FAR  EAST— SINGAPORE  AND  ELSEWHERE. 

Whether  the  increased  demands  for  rubber  will  justify  the  thou- 
sands of  young  trees  that  are  still  being  planted,  not  only  on  the 
Malay  Peninsula  but  on  Borneo  and  other  islands  of  the  Far  East, 
remains  to  be  seen ;  but,  judging  from  the  opinions  of  several  rubber 
experts  of  Singapore,  this  is  quite  doubtful. 


VII.  TWO  CHINESE  CITIES. 

A'TER  a  voyage  (unusually  calm  for  the  China  Sea)  of  four 
days  from  Singapore,  the  S.  S.  "Biilow"  slowly  steamed  among 
the  islands  at  the  entrance  and  came  to  anchor  just  after  sunset 
in  the  beautiful  harbor  of  Hongkong.  There  is  really  no  city  of 
Hongkong,  though  letters  so  directed  will  reach  their  destination, 
and  even  the  residents  of  the  city  in  whose  harbor  we  were  anchored 
would  have  spoken  of  living  in  Hongkong.  The  name  "Hongkong" 
belongs  to  the  small  island,  ten  miles  long  by  three  wide,  that  lies 
about  a  mile  from  the  mainland  of  China.  Along  the  north  or 
land  side  of  this  island  lies  the  city  of  Victoria,  with  a  population 
of  350,000,  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  the  entire  island, 
Hongkong. 

Practically  the  whole  island  is  occupied  by  mountains  of  a 
maximum  height  of  about  1800  feet,  so  that  the  town  has  only  a 
narrow  strip  of  level  ground  along  the  beach  and  extends  in  scat- 
tered fashion  to  the  very  top  of  the  ridge. 

As  we  came  to  anchor  the  twinkling  lights  of  the  streets  and 
houses  were  just  beginning  to  appear,  and  in  a  little  while,  when 
the  short  tropical  twilight  had  changed  to  darkness,  the  shore  line 
was  a  mass  of  lights  which  gradually  became  more  scattered  toward 
the  hill-tops,  where  often  a  single  light  marked  the  location  of  some 
isolated  residence.  Across  the  harbor  another  smaller  group  of 
lights  showed  the  position  of  Kowloon,  a  small  seaport  on  the 
mainland  and  the  southern  terminus  of  the  Kowloon  and  Canton 
Railroad.  On  the  water  between  the  two  towns,  really  one  great 
harbor,  were  thousands  of  lights,  indicating  the  position  of  in- 
visible steamships,  junks,  tugs,  launches  and  sampans.  Most  of  these 
lights  were  stationary,  showing  that  the  vessels  to  which  they 
belonged  were  at  anchor,  but  some  of  them  were  in  motion,  and 
hardly  had  we  come  slowly  to  a  standstill  and  dropped  anchor 
before  we  were  besieged  by  a  swarm  of  launches  and  sampans  all 
clamoring  for  passengers  to  take  ashore. 


TWO   CHIXKSK   riTIKS. 


59 


As  is  customary  in  the  East,  steamers  usually  anchor  in  the 
harbor  at  Hongkong  at  some  distance  from  shore,  so  that  the  larger 
hotels,  as  well  as  Cook's  Agency,  have  private  launches  to  take 
passengers  ashore.  Since  it  was  rather  late  to  see  anything  of  the 
town  most  of  the  cabin  passengers  preferred  to  remain  on  board 
for  the  night,  and  the  view  of  the  lights  of  the  harbor  and  town  as 
seen  from  the  ship  was  well  worth  enjoying  for  one  evening. 

The  next  morning  we  were  able  to  see  the  meaning  of  the  lights 
of  the  night  before.  The  business  part  of  the  town,  with  its 
crowded  Chinese  sections  and  its  fine  municipal  and  office  buildings, 
lies  as  a  narrow  strip  along  the  shore,  while  struggling  up  the 


VIEW  ON  "THE  PEAK";  GOVERNOR'S  RESIDENCE  IN  THE  LEFT 

BACKGROUND. 


mountain  sids  are  the  residences,  churches,  schools,  etc.  of  the 
English  and  wealthy  Chinese  residents.  On  this  mountain  side  is 
also  a  most  beautiful  and  interesting  botanical  garden.  On  the 
highest  point  of  "The  Peak,"  as  the  main  peak  of  the  range  is 
called,  is  a  weather  observatory  and  signal  station,  and  from  this 
point  one  of  the  most  beautiful  views  in  the  world  may  be  obtained ; 
to  the  south,  the  open  China  Sea,  with  numberless  green  islands 
extending  almost  to  the  horizon ;  to  the  north,  the  mainland  of 
China,  fringed  with  low  mountains ;  between  the  mainland  and  the 
island  the  long,  narrow  strait  forming  the  harbors  of  Victoria 
and  Kowloon ;  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  the  densely  crowded 


60 


WANDERINGS   IN  THE  ORIENT. 


business  streets;  and  extending  up  the  almost  precipitous  northern 
slopes  of  the  mountain  the  beautiful,  often  palatial  homes  of  the 
wealthy  residents.  Winding  along  the  mountain  sides  a  number 
of  fine  roads  and  paths  give  access  to  these  homes,  but  to  reach 
the  higher  levels,  especially,  there  may  be  seen  the  cable  tramway, 
going  so  straight  up  the  side  of  the  mountain  that  it  is  almost 
alarming  to  look  forward  or  back  from  the  open  cars.  The  homes 
nearer  the  foot  of  the  mountain  are  usually  reached  by  means 
of  sedan  chairs  carried  by  two,  three  or  even  four  coolies,  while 


CHINESE  JUNKS  IN  THE  HARBOR  OF  CANTON. 

in  the  level  business  section  the  usual  means  of  travel  are  the 
electric  cars  and  the  ever-ready  rickishas.  Horses  are  practically 
unknown  except  for  racing  purposes ;  carts  are  pulled  by  Chinese 
coolies  instead  of  by  horses,  and  merchandise  is  carried  by  coolies 
in  baskets  or  bales  on  the  shoulders.  It  is  an  interesting  though 
unpleasant  sight  to  see  strings  of  Chinese  men  and  women  toiling 
up  the  steep  sides  of  the  mountain,  carrying  stones,  cement,  window 
frames,  timbers,  and  all  other  material  used  in  building  the  palaces 
in  which  the  wealthy  people  live.  For  a  day  of  this  back-breaking 
labor  they  are  paid  about  what  one  of  their  rich  employers  would 


TWO  CHINESE  CITIES.  61 

give  for  one  of  his  best  cigars.  Every  stick,  stone  and  nail  in  all 
of  these  houses  has  been  carried  up  all  these  hundreds  of  feet  on 
the  backs  of  men  and  women,  chiefly  the  latter. 

In  a  beautiful  little  level  valley  between  the  bases  of  two  of 
the  mountains  is  the  play  ground  of  Hongkong,  known  as  "Happy 
Valley" ;  here  are  tennis  courts,  a  golf  course,  etc.  overlooked  on 
either  side,  rather  incongruously,  by  a  Chinese  and  a  Christian 
burial  ground. 

Having  visited  the  various  points  of  interest  about  Hongkong, 
which  is  really  a  part  of  the  British  Empire  (ceded  by  the  Chinese 
in  1841)  though  a  vast  majority  of  its  residents  are  Chinese,  I 
decided  to  have  a  look  at  a  real  Chinese  city,  Canton,  located  about 
ninety  miles  up  the  Canton  River.  As  Canton  happened  to  be  in 
the  throes  of  a  revolution  at  that  time,  people  were  flocking  by  the 
thousands  from  there  to  Hongkong.  Cook's  Agency  was  warning 
people  to  keep  away,  and  Hongkong  papers  had  as  headlines 
"Serious  Outlook  in  Canton" ;  but  I  did  not  expect  ever  to  have 
another  chance  to  visit  this  typical  Chinese  city,  so  I  boarded  one 
of  the  boats  of  the  French  line  that  left  Hongkong  late  in  the 
evening  for  the  run  up  the  river.  I  learned  later  that  one  of  these 
boats  had  been  "shot  up"  a  few  days  before  by  the  revolutionists, 
and  that  a  number  of  the  passengers  had  been  killed.  However 
we  were  not  molested,  and  reached  Canton  about  eight  the  next 
morning. 

After  daylight  we  were  able  to  get  an  idea  of  the  country  on 
either  bank  of  the  muddy  river ;  it  was  low  and  marshy,  every  acre 
being  planted  in  rice.  Occasionally,  on  a  slight  elevation,  would 
be  seen  a  pagoda-shaped  temple,  standing  lonely  among  the  rice 
fields,  where  doubtless  it  had  stood  for  many  centuries. 

At  frequent  intervals  we  passed  small  native  boats,  some  of 
them  with  sails  and  loaded  with  goods,  most  of  them  rowed  by  one 
or  more  oars.  It  was  to  be  noticed  that  when  there  was  only  one 
oar  it  was  being  worked  vigorously  by  a  woman,  while  a  man  sat 
comfortably  in  the  stern  and  steered.  These  people  were  evidently 
going  from  the  crowded  villages  in  which  they  lived  to  work  in 
the  rice  fields. 

At  Canton  the  river,  which  is  there  only  a  few  hundred  yards 
wide,  was  jammed  with  craft  of  all  kinds,  including  one  or  two 
small  war  vessels  and  hundreds,  probably  thousands,  of  sampans. 
The  latter  carry  passengers  and  small  quantities  of  freight ;  they 
are  roofed  over  more  or  less  completely  and  serve  as  the  homes  of 


62 


WANDERINGS    IN    THE  ORIENT. 


the  owners'  families,  all  the  members  of  which  take  a  hand  in  the 
rowing. 


f 


fc 
O 
H 


u 

'- 

O 


O 

~ 


The  foreign  (mostly  English  and  French)  quarter  of  Canton 
is  known  as  "the  Shameen"   (meaning  sand-bank),  a  small  island 


TWO  CHINESE  CITIES. 


63 


in  the  river  connected  with  the  city  proper  by  a  couple  of  bridges. 
It  has  beautifully  shaded  streets  and  fine  houses,  and  is  utterly 
different  from  the  Chinese  Canton.  At  the  Shameen's  one  hotel, 
which  charges  the  modest  rate  of  from  four  to  eight  dollars  per 
day  for  very  ordinary  service,  I  was  told  that  conditions  were  "very 
uncertain"  and  that  nobody  was  allowed  to  enter  the  walled  city 
after  9  P.  M.  without  a  pass. 


A  WIDE  STREET  IN  CANTON. 

A  guide  having  thrust  his  services  upon  me  before  I  could  get 
off  the  boat,  we  left  the  Shameen,  crossed  one  of  the  bridges  and 
plunged  into  the  network  of  streets  where,  without  a  guide,  a 
stranger  would  be  lost  in  a  few  minutes. 

In  a  few  of  the  streets  outside  of  the  walled  city  rickishas  are 
the  usual  means  of  travel,  but  inside  the  walls  most  of  the  streets 
are  too  narrow  for  rickishas  to  pass  one  another,  and  paving  of 
large  flagstones  is  too  rough  for  wheels,  so  that  the  sedan  chair 


64  WANDERINGS  IN  THE  ORIENT. 

is  the  only  means  of  locomotion  except  one's  own  legs.  My  self- 
appointed  guide  said  he  would  get  chairs  for  seven  dollars  per  day 
($3.00  in  American  money)  but  I  told  him  I  expected  to  walk  and 
that  if  he  wanted  to  go  with  me  he  would  have  to  do  likewise ;  he 
immediately  professed  to  think  that  walking  was  the  only  way  to 
go,  so  we  agreed  to  see  the  town  afoot.  After  we  had  walked 
pretty  briskly  for  three  or  four  hours  he  inquired  meekly,  ''Can 
you  walk  this  way  all  day?"  People  in  the  tropics  are  not  usually 
fond  of  walking,  but  Ping  Nam  was  "game"  and  made  no  further 
remarks  about  my  method  of  locomotion.  Some  of  the  less  fre- 
quented streets  where  there  were  no  sun-screens  overhead  were  very 
hot,  but  in  the  busy  streets  the  sun  was  almost  excluded  by  bamboo 
screens  and  by  the  walls  of  the  houses  on  each  side,  so  that  the 
heat  was  not  nearly  so  oppressive  as  might  be  expected  in  so  terribly 
congested  a  city.  Many  of  these  streets  were  so  narrow  that  a 
tall  man  could  touch  the  houses  on  each  side  with  outstretched 
hands. 

On  each  side  were  stores  of  all  sorts  with  open  fronts  with 
gay  signs  and  with  gayly  colored  goods  on  display,  making  a  picture 
of  wonderful  fascination  and  everchanging  interest. 

Although  we  wandered  for  hour  after  hour  through  a  perfect 
wilderness  of  such  streets  we  saw  not  a  single  white  person ;  it 
seemed  as  though  I  were  the  only  Caucasian  among  the  more  than 
a  million  Asiatics,  though  this,  of  course,  was  not  actually  the  case. 

In  the  busier  streets  the  crowds  filled  the  space  from  wall  to 
wall,  so  that  when  a  string  of  coolies  came  along,  bearing  burdens 
in  the  usual  manner  from  a  stick  over  the  shoulder  and  humming  the 
cheerful  though  monotonous  "get-out-of-the-way"  tune,  we  had 
to  step  aside,  close  against  or  into  some  store  to  let  them  pass ;  and 
when  an  occasional  chair  came  along  it  swept  the  entire  traffic 
aside  as  a  taxi  might  in  a  crowded  alley  of  an  American  city. 

In  spite  of  the  density  of  the  population  the  people  all  seemed 
happy  and  contented ;  even  the  little  children  with  faces  covered 
with  sores,  as  was  often  the  case,  appeared  cheerful,  and  ran  and 
played  like  other  children. 

In  the  stores  the  people  could  be  watched  at  work  of  all  kinds, 
from  blacksmithy  to  finest  filigree  silver  work  inlaid  with  the  tiny 
colored  feathers  of  the  brightly  colored  kingfisher ;  and  from  rough 
carpenter  work  to  the  finest  ivory  carving  for  which  the  Chinese 
are  famous.  Of  course  the  amount  they  pay  for  some  of  this  work 
of  extreme  skill  is  ridiculously  small,  yet  their  living  expenses  are 


TWO  CHINESE  CITIES. 


65 


so  small  that  they  are  doubtless  in  better  circumstances  than  many 
of  the  workers  in  our  larger  cities. 

The  silk-weavers,  working  at  their  primitive  looms  in  crowded 
rooms,  excite  one's  sympathy  more  than  most  of  the  other  workers, 
though  they  too  seemed  to  be  quite  cheerful  over  their  monotonous 
tasks. 

Through  these  crowded  streets  we  wandered,  the  sight  of  a 
white  man  and  a  camera  exciting  some  interest,  though  not  a  great 
deal.  Canton  is  said  to  have  been  the  scene  of  more  outrages  of 


COURT  OF  AN  ANCESTRAL  TEMPLE  IN  CANTON. 

one  sort  or  another  than  any  other  city  in  the  world,  but  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  a  revolution  was  supposed  to  be  in  progress  we  saw 
no  signs  of  disorder.  There  were  soldiers  and  armed  policemen 
everywhere,  and  groups  of  people  were  frequently  seen  reading 
with  interest  proclamations  posted  at  various  places  ;  what  the  nature 
of  the  proclamations  was  I  was,  of  course,  not  able  of  myself  to 
learn,  and  Ping  Nam  did  not  seem  to  care  to  enlighten  me,  possibly 
thinking  he  might  scare  me  out  of  town  and  thus  lose  his  job. 

Occasionally  stopping  to  watch  some  skilful  artisan  at  work  or 
to  make  some  small  purchase,  we  went  from  place  to  place  visiting 


66 


WANDERINGS  IN  THE  ORIENT. 


temples  and  other  objects  of  especial  interest.  Some  of  these  tem- 
ples are  centuries  old,  others  are  comparatively  new.  Some  are 
comparatively  plain,  others  like  the  modern  Chun-ka-chi  ancestral 
temple,  which  is  said  to  have  cost  $750,000  "gold,"  are  wonderfully 
ornate,  with  highly  colored  carvings  and  cement  mouldings.  Others 
are  of  interest  chiefly  because  of  the  hideous  images  they  contain; 
one  of  these  has  hundreds  of  these  idols  and  is  hence  known  as  the 
"Temple  of  the  Five  Hundred  Genii." 


ENTRANCE  OF  THE  "TEMPLE  OF  THE  FIVE  HUNDRED  GENII," 

CANTON. 

After  visiting  several  of  these  temples  and  the  picturesque 
flowery  pagoda  we  set  out  for  the  famous  water  clock  that  is  said 
to  have  been  built  more  than  thirteen  hundred  years  ago.  It  is  now 
located  in  a  dark  little  room  in  the  top  of  an  old  house  and  is 
reached  by  a  winding  flight  of  outside  stone  stairs.  It  consists  of 
four  large  jars  of  water,  one  above  the  other,  so  that  the  water  may 
run  slowly,  at  a  definite  rate,  from  the  upper  to  the  lower  jars,  and 
gradually  raise,  in  the  lowest  jar,  a  float  with  an  attached  vertical 
scale  that  tells  the  time.  In  the  window  visible  from  the  street 
below  signs  are  placed  at  intervals  that  tell  the  time  indicated  by  the 
clock. 


TWO  CHINESE  CITIES. 


67 


From  the  water  clock  we  visited  the  ancient  "City  of  the  Dead," 
a  small  cemetery  just  outside  one  of  the  old  city  gates.  These  gates, 
some  of  which  are  large  and  imposing,  pierce  the  dilapidated  wall 
at  intervals.  The  wall,  about  six  miles  in  circumference,  is  sur- 
rounded by  the  remains  of  a  moat,  now  chiefly  useful  as  an  addition 
to  the  picturesque  landscape  and  as  a  breeding  place  for  mosquitoes. 
The  top  of  a  city  gate,  reached  by  a  winding  stone  stairway  from 
within,  is  a  convenient  place  from  which  to  view  the  densely 
crowded  roofs  of  the  adjacent  part  of  the  city. 


THE  FLOWERY  PAGODA,  CANTON. 

From  the  "City  of  the  Dead"  we  made  for  the  fairly  wide 
street  along  the  river  front ;  here  we  took  rickishas,  much  to  the 
relief  of  my  tired  guide,  to  say  nothing  of  my  tired  self,  and  were 
soon  at  the  Canton  terminus  of  the  K.  &  C.  R.  R.  The  station 
was  thronged  with  people  waiting  for  the  Kowloon  express. 

The  road-bed  of  the  K.  &  C.  R.  R.  is  excellent,  and  the  cars 
and  engine,  all  of  English  make,  made  a  very  respectable  appearance. 

For  nearly  half  of  the  distance  to  Kowloon  I  had  my  section 
of  the  one  first-class  car  to  myself,  as  I  was  the  only  Caucasian  on 
the  train  :  then  an  English  civil  engineer  and  his  family  came  aboard 


68 


\Y. \.\DKR I. \<;S    IX   THE  ORIEXT. 


and  shared  my  compartment  for  the  rest  of  the  way.  The  second- 
and  third-class  cars,  of  which  there  were  half  a  dozen  or  more, 
were  crowded  with  natives,  with  boxes  and  bundles  of  all  sorts 
and  sizes. 


A  CITY  GATE  AND  PARTS  OF  THE  WALL  AND  MOAT,  AS  SEEN 
FROM  THE  "CITY  OF  THE  DEAD,"  CANTON. 

After  making  the  run  of  about  ninety  miles  in  something  less 
than  three  hours  we  reached  the  ferry  at  Kowloon,  and  in  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  more  we  were  again  in  Hongkong,  as  different  from 
Canton  as  though  it  were  on  the  other  side  of  the  world  instead 
of  being  only  three  hours  away. 


VIII.  MEANDERINGS  IN  MODERN  MANILA. 

MANILA,  after  twenty  years  of  American  control,  is  a  fasci- 
nating mixture  of  past  and  present ;  of  romance  and  commer- 
cialism ;  of  oriental  ease  and  occidental  hustle. 

Enter  through  one  of  the  beautiful  old  city  gates,  say  the  Santa 
Lucia,  which  bears  the  date  1781,  and  one  finds  himself  in  the  old 
or  walled  city,  Intramuros,  still  very  Spanish  in  its  appearance, 
though  the  government  offices  and  other  public  buildings  are  here 
located.  The  massive  gray  stone  wall,  started  in  the  early  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  was  originally  surrounded  by  a  moat,  with 
drawbridges.  It  is  said  that  a  very  efficient  American  official  once 
suggested  the  desirability  of  having  the  wall  whitewashed ;  for- 
tunately his  idea  was  not  carried  out. 

In  contrast  to  the  comparative  quiet  of  the  narrow  streets  of 
the  Intramuros  the  docks  along  the  Pasig  River,  that  flows  through 
the  heart  of  the  town,  present  a  scene  of  bustle  and  confusion 
worthy  of  a  city  of  its  size,  some  300,000  inhabitants.  Here  may 
be  seen  vessels  of  all  sorts,  from  all  parts  of  the  world:  steamships, 
junks,  tugs,  rowboats,  and  cascos,  the  last  being  the  name  given  the 
native  barge  for  carrying  freight.  The  casco  is  covered  by  a  roof 
of  matting,  made  in  sliding  sections,  with  a  cabin  in  the  stern  where 
the  family  of  the  owner  lives. 

While  there  is  an  excellent  electric  street  railway  system  and 
plenty  of  automobiles  to  be  had,  the  common  method  of  getting 
about  is  to  'phone  for,  or  to  hail,  a  passing  one-horse  vehicle,  of 
which  there  are  three  distinct  types  charging  different  fares  for  the 
same  service ;  the  more  expensive  vehicles  are.  however,  more  com- 
fortable and  have  better  horses.  Like  the  taxi-driver  of  Xew  York 
or  the  rickisha-man  of  Singapore  the  driver  of  the  caratclla  or 
caramata  will  charge  all  the  traffic  will  bear,  and  it  is  well  for  the 
newcomer  to  inquire  of  an  old  resident  what  the  proper  fare  for  a 
given  distance  is  before  starting. 


70 


WANDERINGS  IN  THE  ORIENT. 


The  typical  vehicle  for  hauling  freight  is  the  low,  two-wheeled 
cart,  drawn  by  the  slow-moving,  long-horned  carabao  or  water 
buffalo,  one  of  the  most  characteristic  animals  of  the  islands.  This 
beast  is  well-named,  since  it  delights  to  lie  buried  in  a  muddy  pool 
of  water,  with  just  its  head  above  the  surface.  It  may  be  seen  in 
the  larger  lakes,  swimming  or  wading  in  the  deeper  waters  at  a  dis- 


SANTA  LUCIA  GATE. 
One  of  the  entrances  to  the  Walled  City.    Erected  1781. 

tance  from  the  shore.  In  the  cities  it  is  a  quiet,  peaceful  brute  that 
one  brushes  against  without  a  thought,  but  in  the  country,  where 
is  browses  in  the  open  fields,  it  behooves  the  white  man  to  be  very 
circumspect  as  he  passes  in  its  neighborhood,  for  it  seems  to  have 
an  aversion  to  the  Caucasian  race  and  will  frequently  charge  in  a 
very  unpleasant,  not  to  say  dangerous,  way.  It  is  said  that  the 
carabao  never  shows  this  hostility  toward  the  natives.  A  peculiar- 


MEANDERINGS  IN  MODERN  MANILA. 


71 


ity  of  the  law  is  such  that  should  a  man  shoot  a  dangerous  carabao 
to  protect  his  own  life  he  would  have  to  pay  for  the  animal  he 
killed. 

Of  course  for  small  amounts  of  freight,  in  Manila  as  in  all 
places  in  the  Orient,  the  ubiquitous  Chinese  coolie  is  the  usual 
means  of  transportation,  and  with  a  huge  load  at  each  end  of  a 
bamboo  pole  across  his  shoulder  he  shambles  along  with  a  curious 
gait,  between  a  walk  and  a  run,  that  he  seems  capable  of  sustaining 
for  an  almost  indefinite  time. 


PART  OF  THE  WALL  OF  THE  WALLED  CITY. 
Seen  from  the  outside. 

The  "Chino"  of  course  is  the  merchant  of  Manila  as  of  all  the 
cities  of  this  part  of  the  world.  The  main  shopping  street,  the 
Escolta,  is  fairly  lined  with  Chinese  stores  of  all  sorts,  some  of 
them  quite  extensive ;  and  some  of  the  narrower  side  streets,  in 
the  same  neighborhood,  have  practically  no  other  stores  than  those 
kept  by  the  Chinese.  It  is  wonderfully  interesting  to  wander  about 
these  narrow,  winding  streets,  and  into  the  dark,  sometimes  ill- 
smelling  stores,  but  one  should  early  learn  the  gentle  art  of  "jewing 
down"  the  prices  that  are  first  asked  for  goods  that  are  offered  for 
sale.  The  Oriental  always  asks  much  more  than  he  is  willing  or 


72 


WANDERINGS  IX  THE  ORIKXT. 


even  eager  to  accept.  You  ask  the  price  of  a  garment,  say,  and 
are  told  "Two  pesos" :  you  shake  your  head  and  say  "Too  much"  : 
"Peso  and  half"  will  then  be  tried :  you  again  say  "Too  much"  and 
perhaps  turn  as  though  to  leave  the  shop;  "How  much  you  give?" 


Q 

I  1 

2i  " 

-^  «d 

-  '? 


<    "be 


(*'•= 
W  o 
>  fc 

5  u 

o 

53 

< 

PH 


says  the  crafty  merchant ;  "One  peso,"  perhaps  you  suggest ;  "Take 
it,"  says  the  eager  merchant  as  he  hands  you  an  article  that  should 
probably  sell  for  half  the  amount  paid.  You  leave  the  store  feeling 
good  over  having  gotten  ahead  of  the  crafty  Oriental,  and  he  prob- 
ably chuckles  to  himself  over  having  cheated  the  rich  American. 


MKAXDERIXGS   IX    MODKRN    MAXILA. 


73 


A  CARAMATA. 
The  taxi  of  the  lower  classes  in  Manila. 


A  CAR  ABAC  AND  CART. 


WANDERINGS  IN  THE  ORIENT. 


Most  of  the  shopping  is  done  in  the  morning  or  late  in  the 
afternoon.  For  several  hours,  during  the  heat  of  the  day,  many 
of  the  stores  are  closed  while  the  proprietors  enjoy  a  midday 
lunch  and  siesta. 


When  tired  of  shopping  or  sight-seeing  one  may  wander  into 
a  nearby  church  or  rest  in  some  public  park  or  square,  such  as  the 
Plaza  de  Santo  Tomas.  Many  of  these  old  squares  are  exceedingly 
picturesque  and  attractive. 

The  different  sections  of  the  city  are  given  distinct  names,  as 
though  they  were  separate  towns,  but  they  are  separated  by  imagi- 


MEAXDERIXGS  IX   MODERX    MANILA. 


75 


nary  lines  only.  In  one  of  the  more  residential  of  these  sections  is 
the  great  Manila  General  Hospital,  an  up-to-date,  modern  plant; 
nearby  is  the  main  part  of  the  University  of  the  Philippines,  whose 
students,  it  is  said,  compare  quite  favorably  with  the  average  college 
students  of  America.  In  this  same  neighborhood  is  also  the  main 
part  of  the  Philippine  Bureau  of  Science,  where  trained  chemists, 
geologists,  botanists,  zoologists,  bacteriologists,  engineers,  and  other 
scientific  experts  are  engaged  in  numerous  lines  of  investigation  of 
importance  to  the  welfare  of  the  islands.  Most  of  these  experts 
have,  in  the  past,  been  drawn  from  the  United  States,  as  have  the  pro- 


MAIX   BUILDING  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  THE   PHILIPPINES. 


fessors  in  the  University.  Just  what  will  be  the  condition  of  affairs 
in  these  high-grade  institutions  when  the  islands  are  entirely  under 
native  control  is  somewhat  problematic. 

\Yhile  the  hotels  are  not  numerous  in  Manila  one  may  secure 
the  best  of  modern  service  by  going  to  the  Manila  Hotel,  down  on 
the  water-front,  just  off  the  great  promenade  and  playground  known 
as  the  Lunetta,  where  everybody  goes  at  night  to  see  everybody 
else  and  to  listen  to  the  band.  Or  one  may  see  more  of  the  native, 
especially  the  Spanish,  life  of  the  town  by  stopping  at  the  Hotel 
de  Spain,  in  the  heart  of  the  town,  just  off  the  Escolta.  Here  one 


76 


\V. \.\DKR1  X(1S  IX  THE  ORIENT. 


may  be  quite,  if  not  luxuriously,  comfortable  at  a  much  more  rea- 
sonable rate,  and  may  enjoy  watching  the  Spanish  and  other  foreign 
guests  of  the  hotel  instead  of  the  usual  crowd  of  military  and  other 
well-dressed  Americans  that  frequent  the  Manila  Hotel. 

Although    the    population    of    Manila    largely   adheres    to    the 
Roman    Catholic   Church,   many   of   the    Protestant   denominations 


MAIN    BUILDING   OF   THE    PHILIPPINE   BUREAU    OF    SCIENCE. 

have  churches  of  their  own,  and  a  flourishing  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  with  a 
fine,  modern  building,  is  available  for  the  men  of  the  city. 

Life  in  such  a  town  is  certainly  very  attractive,  and  there  is 
a  charm  about  the  place  that  makes  one  wish  to  return ;  but  it  is  a 
long,  long  way  from  home  and  from  many  of  the  things  that  may 
be  had  only  in  the  greater  countries  of  Europe  and  America. 


IX.  A  PACIFIC  PARADISE,  HONOLULU. 

THE  long  voyage  to  or  from  the  Orient  is  delightfully  interrupted 
by  the  stop  at  Honolulu,  capital  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  about 
2,100  miles  southwest  of  San  "Francisco.  This  interesting  group 
of  volcanic  islands  named  in  1778  by  their  discoverer,  Jas.  Cook, 
the  Sandwich  Islands  after  the  Earl  of  Sandwich,  then  Lord  of  the 
British'  Admiralty,  is  said  to  be  the  most  isolated  group  of  inhabited 
islands  in  the  world.  It  is  possible  that  the  real  discoverer  of  the 
islands  was  not  Jas.  Cook,  but  a  Spanish  seaman  named  Juan  Gae- 
tano,  who  sighted  them  in  1555.  Cook  and  his  men  were  treated 
as  supernatural  beings  and  worshiped  by  the  superstitious  natives 
as  gods,  until  the  death  of  one  of  the  sailors  showed  that  they  were 
mere  mortals ;  and  in  1779,  by  their  overbearing  conduct,  the  Eng- 
lishmen came  into  conflict  with  the  irate  natives  and  Jas.  Cook  was 
killed.  "His  body  was  taken  to  a  heiau  or  temple ;  the  flesh  was 
removed  from  the  bones  and  burned,  and  the  bones  were  tied  up 
with  red  feathers  and  deified.  Parts  of  the  body  were  recovered, 
however,  and  committed  to  the  deep  with  military  honors,  and  a 
part  of  the  bones  were  kept  in  the  temple  of  Lono  and  worshiped 
until  1819.  when  they  were  concealed  in  some  secret  place.  A  monu- 
ment erected  by  his  fellow  countrymen  now  marks  the  place  where 
he  fell  on  the  shores  of  Kealakekua." 

In  1893  the  queen  was  deposed  and  a  provisional  government 
was  established,  to  be  succeeded,  in  1894.  by  the  Republic  of  Hawaii. 
In  1900,  by  an  act  of  Congress,  the  Hawaiian  Islands  became  a 
territory  of  the  United  States.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  ninety  and 
odd  thousands  of  inhabitants  of  the  islands,  in  1910,  nearly  eighty 
thousand  were  Japanese.  The  native  Hawaiians  come  next  in  point 
of  numbers  and  are  the  most  interesting  people  to  the  average 
tourist.  Though  dark-skinned,  they  are  quite  different  in  appear- 
ance from  the  negro,  and  many  of  the  young  men  and  women  are 
decidedly  good-looking. 


78 


WANDERINGS  IN  THE  ORIENT. 


As  the  vessel  enters  the  beautiful  harbor,  with  the  city  of 
Honolulu  spread  out  along  the  shore  and  the  mountains  rising  ab- 
ruptly in  the  immediate  background,  the  well-formed  young  men 
and  boys  are  seen  alongside  in  the  water  or  in  native  boats,  ready 
to  dive  for  the  coins  that  the  passengers  seem  always  ready  to 
throw  to  them.  These  amphibious  people,  like  most  of  those  in  the 
tropics,  are  perfectly  at  home  in  the  water  and  seem  never  to  tire, 
no  matter  how  far  they  may  go  to  meet  the  incoming  vessels,  as 
they  slowly  wind  their  way  through  the  tortuous  channels  among 
the  treacherous  coral  reefs. 


DIAMOND  HEAD,  A  FORTIFIED  EXTINCT  VOLCANO. 
At  the  entrance  to  the  harbor  of  Honolulu. 

To  the  south  of  the  entrance  to  the  harbor,  which  it  guards 
with  batteries  of  concealed  cannon  and  mortars,  is  the  extinct  vol- 
canic mountain  known  as  Diamond  Head,  shown  from  the  land 
side  in  the  picture.  A  grass-covered,  bowl-shaped  crater  of  perhaps 
half  a  mile  diameter  may  be  entered  through  a  tunnel  on  the  land 
side,  where  Fort  Ruger  is  situated.  The  rim  of  the  crater,  which 
is  only  a  few  hundred  feet  high,  may  be  easily  scaled  and  in  most 
places  affords  easy  walking  and  a  fine  view  of  the  harbor.  In  the 
higher  portion  of  the  rim,  seen  in  the  right  of  the  photograph,  is 


A  PACIFIC  PARADISE,  HONOLULU.  79 

a  heavy  battery  of  big  guns,  concealed  in  passages  in  the  solid  rock, 
that  could  probably  protect  the  entrance  of  the  harbor  below  from 
any  ordinary  fleet.  Visitors  are  not  allowed  to  see  these  rock- 
hidden  batteries,  whose  existence  would  never  be  suspected  from  the 
smooth,  apparently  unbroken  surface  of  the  rock  as  seen  from  the 
harbor. 

Like  many  other  beautiful  places,  Hawaii  is  said  to  have  the 
"most  perfect  climate  in  the  world."  Add  to  this  wonderful  climate 
and  beautiful  scenery,  of  sea  and  mountains  combined,  the  fact  that 
there  is  supposed  to  be  not  a  snake  nor  a  poisonous  plant  nor  an 
insect  worse  than  bees  in  all  the  islands,  it  would  seem  that  this  is 
truly  a  paradise,  without  even  the  serpent  to  cause  trouble. 

For  the  tourist  there  are  excellent  hotels  and  all  the  conve- 
niences of  a  continental  city,  and  amusements  of  sufficient  variety 
to  suit  the  most  blase.  For  those  who  are  merely  stopping  off  for 
a  day  on  the  way  to  or  from  more  distant  ports  it  is  hard  to  decide 
which  of  the  many  interesting  places  to  visit.  If  it  be  his  first  visit, 
the  mere  city  streets  with  the  royal  palms  and  other  magnificent 
trees,  the  stores,  the  cosmopolitan  crowds  and  other  strange  sights 
and  sounds  will  be  fascinating.  A  drive  to  the  Punchbowl,  the  Poli, 
or  more  distant  points,  may  be  taken  in  a  few  hours,  while  if  in- 
terested in  natural  history  the  gorgeous  fishes  and  other  marine  forms 
to  be  seen  at  the  Aquarium  will  be  a  revelation  to  one  accustomed 
only  to  the  life  of  the  temperate  zone. 

At  the  Bishop  Museum  the  natural  history,  ethnology,  etc.,  of 
the  islands  may  be  studied  in  a  synoptic  form.  It  is  here  that  the 
famous  war-cloak  of  Kamehameha  I  is  on  exhibition.  It  is  a  truly 
wonderful  garment,  four  feet  long,  with  a  spread  of  ten  feet  or 
more  at  the  bottom.  It  is  made  of  the  yellow  feathers  of  the  mama 
bird,  and  when  it  is  realized  that  each  bird  furnishes  but  two  small 
tufts  of  feathers,  one  under  each  wing,  it  will  be  imagined  how 
many  thousands  of  these  small  birds  were  sacrificed  to  make  this 
one  robe.  It  is  valued  at  $150,000.  It  is  carefully  protected  from 
dust  and  light  but  is  exhibited  to  visitors  to  the  museum. 

In  the  cool  of  the  evening,  when  tired  from  a  day  of  sight- 
seeing, the  traveler  may  listen  to  the  Honolulu  Band,  on  some  public 
square.  It  is  composed  of  native  musicians,  but  the  instruments 
are  those  of  the  ordinary  American  brass  band,  and  but  for  the 
cosmopolitan  character  of  the  audience  one  might  imagine  himself 
in  a  city  of  southern  California  or  some  other  subtropical  part  of 
the  United  States. 


80 


WANDERINGS  IN  THE  ORIENT. 


Besides  having  the  most  equable  climate  in  the  world  Honolulu 
claims  the  most  perfect  bathing-resort  on  earth,  Waikiki  Beach. 
The  water  is  certainly  all  that  could  be  desired,  but  the  not  in- 
frequent sharp  masses  of  coral  that  project  up  through  the  white 
sand  of  the  otherwise  perfect  beach  are  decidedly  objectionable, 
and  the  writer  cut  a  gash  in  his  foot,  by  stepping  on  one  of  these 
pieces  of  coral,  that  was  many  days  in  healing. 


ROYAL  PALMS,  HONOLULU. 

Another  of  the  points  of  interest  in  the  city  is  the  Royal  Mau- 
soleum, where  are  the  bodies  of  many  of  the  royalty  of  the  Hawaiian 
dynasties.  The  Hawaiian  alphabet  consists  of  but  twelve  letters, 
and  the  preponderance  of  vowels  in  many  words  seems  remarkable 
to  an  English-speaking  person.  For  example  one  of  the  bodies  in 
the  Royal  Mausoleum  is  that  of  "Kaiminaauao,  sister  of  Queen 
Kalakaua" ;  it  will  be  noticed  that  eight  of  the  eleven  letters  in  this 


A  PACIFIC  PARADISE,   HONOLULU.  81 

name  are  vowels.  In  this  Mausoleum  doubtless  now  rest  the  remains 
of  Liliuokalani.  the  last  queen  of  Hawaii,  who  was  deposed  in  1893 
for  attempting  to  force  a  less  liberal  constitution  upon  the  people. 
She  married  an  American  and  twice  visited  the  United  States,  after 
his  death. 

If  time  permit,  and  the  pocketbook  too,  most  interesting  side 
trips  to  the  other  islands  of  the  group  may  be  made,  especially  to 
the  active  volcano.  Mauna  Loa,  13,760  feet  high,  with  Kilauea  on 
its  eastern  slope,  situated  on  the  Island  of  Hawaii. 

While  the  Hawaiian  Islands  may  not  be  as  perfect  as  they  are 
advertised,  they  nevertheless  give  a  very  fair  imitation  of  Paradise, 
and  a  better  place  in  which  to  rest  and  enjoy  nature  in  her  kindest 
moods  would  be  hard  to  find. 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

305  De  Neve  Drive  -  Parking  Lot  17  •  Box  951388 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA  90095-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library  from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


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